For My Daughter
by Iris Zella
Summary: Weird blue eggs, mood swings, and oh my gosh chocolate cupcakes with relish! What's happening to our favorite Spirit Detective and can Keiko take it? YxK It's better than it sounds, please read! COMPLETE!
1. Eyes

Hey, I've got this random idea for a story, here's the beginning, please review and tell me if I should continue or not

_Hey, I've got this random idea for a story, here's the first few chapters, please review and tell me if I should continue or not! Thanks for any and all input! Inspiration for this story based upon a poem by Weldon Kees, I don't own his words. _

_And I don't own YYH. _

"Well," Kurama said, pulling yet another twig out of his hair, "That was…insightful."

"Yea I guess you could have called it that," Yusuke said as he disentangled himself from a few thick vines, "Good move Hiei."

"Hn." The koorime sheathed his blade and knocked a few leaves the size of Kuwabara's hands from his pointed black hair.

"I didn't know spines could bend that way," Kuwabara said, nursing his own wounds, mostly caused by the earth demon's branches.

Hiei shot him a demeaning glare, "That was the point, idiot."

Kurama cleared his throat as Kuwabara rose angrily, "We should probably be getting back home. Koenma wanted us to report back to him when we had finished the job, and Keiko is probably getting worried Yusuke, you should contact her."

"Yea yea yea," the half-demon shrugged him off, "She's fine. Probably just hanging with Botan anyway. But I guess we should be getting back anyway." He stood and stretched, only wincing slightly when the small wound on his stomach stretched a little too wide.

"Are you sure that doesn't hurt Yusuke?" Kurama asked for the fourth time, "It could be deep and have hit something important without you knowning."

"Quit worrying Kurama, I'm fine. Let's just get home ok? Binky-butt's gonna get annoyed if we take too long."

The group started back down the path they had taken just a few hours earlier towards the location of the portal arranged for them by Koenma. Hiei didn't mention it, but as they were leaving, a strange sensation came over him. It was almost as if there was someone else among them. He carefully surveyed the surrounding jungle. It was dense, but plain to him and his Jagan that no one else was close by. Still the feeling persisted. He let out a short 'hn' under his breath and ignored it; chances were it wasn't important anyway. And why were they out here anyway? Even though they had officially been fired as the Spirit Detective Team, Koenma occasionally called upon their "expertise" for exceptionally difficult jobs.

Yusuke desperately tried not to scratch at his side. The little wound itched something awful but damned if he'd let Kurama know that it bothered him more than he let on. _Stupid women earth demons and their stupid plants,_ he thought as another wave of itchiness flooded his senses. Then, all of a sudden, it subsided. _Hmm, weird,_ he thought, _But hey, I'll take what I can get. And now I'm really hungry…._

"Anyone else in the mood for a cheeseburger?" Yusuke said out loud suddenly, "I could really go for a cheeseburger. And some fries. A big pile of greasy French fries."

Hiei looked disgusted, "Is that really what you humans eat? It sounds terrible."

"It's better than it sounds," Kurama chimed in, "But it's not very good for you. Why the sudden craving Yusuke?"

"I dunno, I just really want a cheeseburger. Like right now," the former-detective insisted.

"Calm down Urameshi," Kuwabara said, "We'll get your stupid burger when we get back home. And you really should check in with Keiko first, you know how worried she gets when you leave on missions."

"Hn," Hiei grinned, "Sounds like that onna of yours has you tied down tight, detective."

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Yusuke whirled, looking down at the koorime who now had a hand on the hilt of his blade.

"Woah Yusuke, chill out," Kuwabara tried to step between the two demons. Not a very wise choice wouldn't you say? Yusuke rounded on the human growling. Then, right as Kuwabara was about to get a severe ass-whippin', everything stopped.

Yusuke smiled brightly at the cowering carrot-top. "You're right Kuwabara," he said cheerily, "No need for violence. Come on guys, it's not much farther now!" And he skipped on up the path.

Kurama raised an eyebrow in the young demon's direction. "What was that all about?" he wondered aloud.

"Hn," came Hiei's reply. He brushed dirt off his cloak as he said, "I guess he didn't want to die today after all."

"Come off it Hiei," Kuwabara protested, "You wouldn't have laid a hand on him so stop acting all macho. Something's wrong with Urameshi."

Kurama furrowed his brow in thought. He recounted the battle in his mind, trying to recall every detail. He pulled another twig, left over from the battle, from his hair. Perhaps the clue to this behavior was to be found in this little sample. He tucked away for good measure. For now, the best path was to just get back to Koenma and get Yusuke back to Keiko. She had a knack for finding out what was wrong with the son of Raizen.

The group finished the walk in silence, excepting the occasional insult thrown by Hiei or Kuwabara. In the meeting place, Botan was waiting for them, a glowing blue portal behind her and a wide smile on her face.

Keiko stared out the open window of the apartment she and Yusuke now shared. When Yusuke did not appear for the three thousandth and forty-seventh time since she returned home from school, the brunette sighed deeply and turned away from the window, settling back into the sofa. It had been a whole year since Yusuke had been home. One year with relative peace between the human and demon worlds, thanks to Lord Enki. One year now that she and Yusuke had been living together.

And five months since he asked her to marry him. For real this time.

Keiko smiled to herself thinking that had been a wonderful night. The moon was full and the weather warm in early summer. She had Yusuke had been laying on a thick blanket on the balcony of their apartment watching the stars. Not that you could see to many but still, it was romantic. She remembered how he'd seemed nervous and jumpy all night. He'd attended to her every whim and, underneath the stars, held her a little bit tighter than normal.

After they'd been laying there for a while, he had sighed and muttered to himself, "Might as well get this out of the way."

She turned and looked at him and asked simply, "What is it?" Again, he sighed and sat up. She sat up too, now a little bit nervous herself, was something wrong?

Yusuke had slowly gotten to his feet pulling her up with him. He held her close against him for a moment, then pulled back to look in her eyes. He gave one of his little half-smiles and said, "You know I love you Keiko." It was a rare statement, and Keiko smiled widely before saying, "I love you too Yusuke."

He had grinned again and said cockily, "I know that. Which is why…" Here he pulled a small dark object from his pocket. He had looked Keiko in the eyes as he kneeled in front of her and asked, "Will you marry me Keiko?"

Now, on the couch, that memory still brought tears to her eyes. It was corny, she knew it, but she couldn't help it. The look on his face when she said yes...was just pure joy. She knew she was lucky to have someone as devoted and loving as Yusuke Urameshi, but she absolutely hated how he had to run away to demon world all the time. Couldn't Koenma leave them alone for a year? Was Yusuke absolutely necessary to keeping the peace?

_What I wouldn't give for some time just the two of us, _she thought leaning her head back against the cushions, _Away from all of this. Just him and me. _

"Whatcha thinking bout kiddo?" Yusuke's voice came from the doorway. Keiko shot up and practically flew across the room to his open arms, nearly knocking the young demon over. "Hey watch it," he teased.

She leaned back to look at his face. He was relatively unhurt and smiled down at her. She tilted her face up for a kiss and then laughed as he picked her up bridal style. "Hey," she complained mockingly, "Let me down."

"Not a chance," Yusuke said, "I have to practice." Keiko giggled in response and then gave a little yell when he plopped down hard on the sofa. That's when she noticed the bandage around his side.

"What's this?" she asked, tracing it with a finger, "Are you hurt?"

"No way," Yusuke replied, "Kurama checked it out, he insisted after we checked back in with Koenma. It's fine, just a little scratch."

"It looks deep," Keiko said, "You sure it's ok?"

She felt him bristle as he replied, "Yes its fine Keiko. Leave it alone."

"Fine," she replied, matching his annoyance, "Whatever." Then she screeched out loud as he found that one terrible tickle spot on her ribs.

"Don't you take that tone with me missy," Yusuke teased as he tickled her mercilessly. "I'm gonna be the man around here and you'll have to listen to me."

"Hahaha…when hell hahahaha… freezes hehehe… over," Keiko tried to protest.

Yusuke, in one swift move, flipped them both over so that they were both lying on the couch with her trapped underneath him. Not that Keiko minded. "Defiant huh?" he asked her, leaning in close.

"Mmm, always to you," Keiko replied. She was getting short of breath with him so close. And she knew that he knew the effect he had on her.

His lips hovered a hair's breadth away from hers as he whispered, "Always?"

Keiko found she really couldn't say anything much at that moment. He chuckled lightly before pulling away. Keiko smiled but protested the movement; she liked it when he played with her like that.

"So what have you been up to for the last few days?" Yusuke asked, still holding her tight.

"The usual," Keiko replied, "School. Work. The works you know. Oh, and I got the check to the landlady. She says we're all caught up on what we owed now. So now we only have the monthly pay instead of that and whatever we borrowed in the first place."

"That's great!" Yusuke said, brushing some hair out of her face. "Now, there was something you wanted to talk about before I left, wasn't there?"

Keiko was honestly surprised that he remembered that. "Yea, I was wondering if you had given any further thought to the…future?"

"What do you mean?" He asked. "I've thought about the store and stuff. Oh, you mean the wedding? Am I supposed to do that? Crap, I'm sorry Keiko…" She shushed him.

"No you goofball," she said, "Planning the wedding is my job. Actually, what I meant was…like after marriage…and I was thinking about…kids."

"Oh," the former detective looked shaken for the first time since the tournament for the kingship of demon world, "Kids? Like soon?" Keiko nodded meekly. "Oh," Yusuke said again. "Listen umm… you don't think.. uhh…its like…too soon or anything?"

"No," Keiko said surely, "I want kids Yusuke. I think I'm ready."

Yusuke looked down and grasped her hands tightly. "Well…if you're sure. Hey Keiko?"

"Mmhmm?"

"You sure you want to get any fatter?"

"YUSUKE!!"

"Ow! Ow! Keiko!! Stop it!" the demon lord squealed in pain, "Come on I was just kidding!"

_R&R_


	2. What Lies Beneath

Chapter 2 coming at ya

_Chapter 2 coming at ya! Me no own YYH. But I do own my plot line._

"Psst."

Kurama tried to ignore the nagging whisper behind him.

"Psst. Kurama."

_Ignoring. _

"Kurama, hey come on man I know you can hear me."

_Not during class Kuwabara, please. _

"Kuramaaaaaaa," the carrot top nudged the red head from behind with a pencil. "Kuramaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

Kurama half turned towards him and gave him an angry frown, "What IS it Kuwabara? We're in the middle of class."

"Hi."

_Thud. _

"Mr. Minamino? Is something wrong? Do you need to go to the nurse's?" The professor spoke from the front of the room.

"No Professor," Kurama's voice was muffled by the desk he had hit with his head. _Maybe Hiei doesn't have the wrong impression of humans…_

The class stopped giggling at their top student face down on his desk and returned their attention back to Mongolian history. When all was again quiet, Kuwabara whispered to Kurama, "Hey, but seriously, I have something to ask you about."

"What is it then Kuwabara, I need to pay attention to this lesson," Kurama lied because he was annoyed.

"Did you ever figure out what was wrong with Urameshi?"

Kurama straightened, "No I haven't yet. Whatever it was that caused that bit of…irrationality is a mystery to me. The organic nature of the demon we fought did not contain any kind of poisons or neuron-toxins. However, there is some unidentifiable material imbedded in the tissues that could be related. I don't have a sample to test it against yet so I don't know what it is."

"Wow," Kuwabara said, "You can figure all that out from a twig in your hair?"

"With access to the organic chemistry lab, yes I can." Kurama tried to keep the bragging out of his voice, but he was proud of his abilities. And of course the fact that he was in actuality a thousand-some year old demon had very little to do with it. Very little. Yoko mentally kicked him for that thought.

"Mr. Minamino are you sure you don't want to go to the nurse? How about the principle then?"

"No Professor. I'm sorry." And then he returned to taking history notes and trying not to correct the teacher on a few counts. Kurama had of course already read the text book.

Keiko was sitting in a similar situation in a room down the hall. By some crazy coincidence, she, Kuwabara, and Kurama had all ended up getting accepted at the same university. Yes, they were all in college now, all except for Yusuke who had dropped out of high school and now ran their small store until Keiko returned home to help. Hiei still made the tabloids every now and again. But now she sat in her English foreign language class trying desperately not to fall asleep to the teacher's monotonous drone. She already knew the verbs and tenses they were discussing and was day dreaming in the back of the class.

Her mind right now was focused, as usual, on Yusuke. His reaction to their discussion last night had been a little unnerving. He had joked it off, but she could always tell his underlying emotions. He wasn't ready. Or at least he didn't think he was ready. She thought he was ready. But how to convince him? The wedding wasn't until the new year, maybe in that time something would happen to change his mind.

Keiko shook her head. No, if something was going to change his mind, she had to find it, not just leave it to chance. She just knew he would make a wonderful father.

After class finally ended, Keiko walked home. It was only a few blocks and the sun wasn't too hot today. Usually Kuwabara walked home with her, his place was near hers, but today he had declined, saying he and Kurama had some "unfinished business", their code world for spirit world stuff. And that always made her anxious to see Yusuke. So she left as soon as she can and hustled home and walked in the front door of their little book store. Yes, she was a nerd, she knew.

Business was booming because there were three customers at the check out line…but Yusuke was no where to be seen. Frowning in frustration, Keiko walked to the front counter, clocked in, and checked out the impatient clientele.

_Oh that boy is gonna get it when he get's his butt back here_, she fumed to herself. That's when she heard the crying. _What? _It was coming from the stockroom. Slowly, she pushed the door open and was surprised to find Yusuke on the floor of the stockroom with a book open in his lap crying his eyes out. Like bawling. Keiko was a little afraid.

"Yusuke? What happened?" She asked, kneeling next to him. "Are you ok—ahh!" She gasped as he wrapped his arms tightly around her neck and pulled her close, sobbing loudly.

"OH Keiko," he cried, "A customer….wa-wa-wanted this book… so I we-we-went back here and got it and look wha-wha-what it is!!" He chocked out between sobs.

Keiko freed herself from his vice-like grip and pulled the book off his lap. It was a book of baby names. "What? Why would this get you upset Yusuke? It's just a baby book," her attempt at soothing him failed miserably as he wailed even louder.

"But I was so mean last night! You want a baby and I d-d-don't and I'm so-so-sorry!"

_This isn't exactly what I had in mind to change his opinion. _ The brunette thought. "Hey it's ok Yusuke, you weren't mean, just…calm down a little bit."

He looked up at her, puppy dog eyes brimming with tears, "You mean it? You're not mad at me? I wasn't mean?"

Keiko chocked down a laugh at seeing this great powerful demon sniffling on the floor next to her. "Yes," she said with a smile, "I mean it."

Immediately, Yusuke jumped up, grinning wildly. He pulled her up and danced around a little bit, now with loud laughter. "Awesome!" He yelled loudly. He suddenly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to him, kissing her wildly. "You are so amazing," he said releasing her, "And I promise, I won't be mean about you wanting kids. If you want them, why not?"

"Well I want you to want them too Yusuke," Keiko said, she was stunned by this sudden change in him.

"Jeez! How much do you want from me?!" Yusuke now yelled at her. He stomped off muttering something along the lines of, "Stupid women…can't make 'em happy all the time…always wanting more…can't please 'em…" and so on.

_Ok,_ Keiko thought staring after him, _Time to call Kurama. Something's up here. He's been like this ever since they came back from the demon world. I mean, Yusuke can be erratic, but this is just crazy!_ Then a thought came unbidden to her mind, _What if this has nothing to do with demon world? What if he's…not ready for marriage and this is his way of telling me…I don't want to push him…maybe he just doesn't want me to be his…_she wouldn't allow herself to finish the thought and pushed that stupid suspicion to the back of her mind. No. She knew he loved her. He might act crazy but she knew he loved her. But still, that thought was there, in the back of her mind, as she dialed Kurama's phone number.

In the demon world, a rather short three-eyed demon came across something rather unusual. Now, normally, his course of action in such cases was to kill it and ask Kurama about it later, but something stayed his hand.

It was already dead.

It was another earth-type demon, similar to the one that he and the former Spirit team had dismembered a week ago. And obviously not long dead. She, for Hiei could plainly see that it was female, was splayed out on the ground, a hole punched through her stomach. As if someone or something had erupted from her stomach. Hiei took a closer look inside the creature and immediately regretted it. For inside the stomach, which was rotting, there was a blue capsule that looked like a frog's eggs, and they also smelled like they were rotting. Another whiff reached his nostrils. No, they smelled like something had eaten them when they were rotten, they had come out the other end, and then been eating by this creature and were still rotting.

Gross.

And then one of the blue capsules squirmed.

Really gross! But of course Hiei wouldn't think that. He was a demon accustomed to decay and dismemberment. Flayed limbs and dissected organs. Brains leaking out onto the corpses of dead…ew it moved again. Letting is curiosity get the better of him, Hiei used the most scientific method at his disposal to find out what it was. He poked it with the end of his katana. Nothing happened.

Hiei frowned and, using his Jagan, tried to probe the young being's mind, if it was indeed a being. He thought it might be. But he wasn't sure.

A strange feeling wafted over him. It was a creature for certain. But this…egg…was not the earth-demon's spawn. Hiei frowned again, not that this was an uncommon gesture, but this time, it was because another feeling came over him. One of…familiarity. He knew this type of demon, if demon it was, but he couldn't place the source.

The egg gave a final squirm before becoming still and Hiei felt the young mind die. As the egg slowly changed color to a dark, murky, mud brown, Hiei took a strip of fabric and wrapped the thing in it. Kurama would know what it was.

_Sorry it's kind of short, new chapter soon! Review are welcomed but not forced. _


	3. Concealed Hintings

Chapter 3

_Chapter 3. Same disclaimers apply. Thanks to all reviewers, you make me feel loved! Enjoy. _

_(And I don't own Dexter's lab)_

Kuwabara bent carefully over the microscope Kurama had set up in his apartment. The whole place had a kind of make-shift-Dexter's Lab feel to it. On the slide was a carefully cut cross-section of the piece of the demon Kurama had found in his hair. Knowing nothing whatsoever about botany, Kuwabara could only say, "Yep, that's a stick."

Kurama groaned inwardly and rubbed his temples. "Very astute Kuwabara. Now focus it a little more and tell me what you notice about the internal cellular structure of the sample."

Kuwabara obediently turned the knobby-thingies on the side and the picture changed focus becoming closer so he could see what looked to him like the plant version of legos. He remembered from his last science class that they were called cells but that was about all he could say he knew about them. This was why he wanted to be a history teacher. But even he could notice that there was something out of place here. "Kurama," he asked carefully, "Some of these cells look different than the others. Like they've been mutated or something."

"Exactly," Kurama said, "It looks to me like this demon had a parasite inside of her, feeding off of her energies and invading her cells. The question is what is it? And did it infect Yusuke?"

Just then the phone rang, breaking through Kuwabara's concentration. Kurama turned to answer it and Kuwabara turned back to look at the slide again. The infected cells had a faint color…

"Why don't you just come on over Keiko?" Kurama said trying to sooth the girl on the end of the line, "We've made some important discoveries that you should know about. Yusuke probably didn't tell you the details of the mission….Alright….yes see you soon." And he hung up. Turning to Kuwabara, he said, "That was Keiko. Apparently the mood swings are getting worse and she's worried so she's coming over. We have a little explaining to do."

"Kurama these cells are…blue," Kuwabara said confusedly.

"Hmm, that's interesting. If only I had something else to compare it to. Perhaps if we go back into demon world and find another one of these demons we can find the cause of this…"

"Too late fox," Hiei materialized behind Kuwabara making him jump about half-way across the room.

"Jeez Hiei!" the carrot-top complained, "We've talked about this man!"

"Yes I realize that," the demon sneered, "But it is far too much fun to torment baka ningens like you."

Kurama rolled his eyes and flipped a piece of his hair back, "You said you had something useful for me Hiei?"

"Right to the point aren't we Kurama," Hiei said, "Well yes, I came across a dead earth demon. Exactly the type we killed. It looked as if something had erupted from its chest, breaking the ribs outward. I also found this inside the corpse." He laid the cloth-bound egg on the desk.

Kurama carefully unwrapped and inspected it. Yoko nudged the back of his mind, urging caution. He had encountered these things; they were not to be trusted, even when dead. But when he didn't die and nothing burst from the leathery shell, Kurama's curiosity got the better of him and he took a small scalpel and sliced open the egg.

"Eww gross!" Kuwabara complained. The stench of rotten eggs filled the room. Ok, so it was definitely dead. A dark blue-ish goop seeped out onto the counter.

"What is that?" Kuwabara asked, pointing at a small mass that had oozed out onto the table top. Kurama poked it with his knife and scraped some of the extra goo off. They all recoiled a little when they recognized a tiny hand.

Kurama eased the rest of the tiny body out onto the table. It had a somewhat humanoid appearance but the eyes seemed significantly larger than normal and it had the signature toes of the earth demons. They were skinnier than usual so that they could be used as roots to sap available minerals from the soil.

"It appears to me," Kurama said, still nudging around the small corpse, "That this creature is a type of parasite. It depends on these earth demons."

"Kurama," Kuwabara noticed, "Those blue cells on the sample…"

"Precisely what I was thinking Kuwabara. These eggs I wonder what…"

"What's going on now?" The question came from the doorway. Keiko stood there, her long hair tousled as if she'd run all the way from her apartment.

"Keiko," Kurama said, welcoming her. "Come on inside. Yusuke didn't tell you about our mission did he? Kuwabara, why don't you fill her in while I get us some tea?"

While the water came to a boil, the carrot-top filled in the girl on their fight with the earth demon, Yusuke's strange behavior afterward, and now the strange discovery of the egg.

"It's obviously not an earth demon's egg," Kurama interrupted Kuwabara, "As far as I know they don't even lay eggs. So another species must have implanted its eggs inside the demon."

"And the species that lays the eggs must prefer the earth demons," Keiko put in, "Otherwise this would have appeared earlier in other kinds of demons."

"I hadn't thought of that," Kurama said, a little surprised, "That's a good idea."

"Hey Kurama?" Kuwabara asked, "Don't some seeds of fruits need to be eaten in order to grow? Maybe it's like the same kind of thing?"

Kurama was starting to think he needed to pay more attention in biology class, "That's also a good idea."

"Hn," Hiei spoke up for the first time since Keiko appeared, "The idiot finally had a decent idea."

"YOU WATCH YOUR MOUTH SHRIMP!"

"SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!" Keiko screamed, startling them all to silence. "That isn't helping Yusuke! We need to figure this out to find out what he's got so we can help him!"

Kurama saw the look in the girl's eyes. She was desperately worried about Yusuke and he could see how determined she was to make sure he was going to be ok. And Keiko could be every bit as stubborn as Yusuke. And then, finally, it clicked.

"An egg," Kurama said.

"What are you babbling about now fox?" Hiei asked, with just the barest hint of disdain.

"Yusuke's been implanted with an egg."

"Wait, what?" Keiko asked, "You mean…Yusuke's pregnant?"

"What?!" Kuwabara exclaimed, "No way! I know Urameshi, and he's waaaaaaaaaay too macho for that to happen."

Just then the door burst open and the man of the moment, Yusuke Urameshi, came skipping and twirling into the room. Yes, skipping and twirling. Hooked in the crook of his elbow was a large basket. "Helllllllloooooo everybody!" He sang out joyfully. He plopped the basked down on the table top in front of the stunned faces of all and whipped off the blanket covering the wicker basket. "I made cupcakes!" And behold, there lay about a hundred of the most delicious looking tasty treats ever known to man.

Kuwabara sank to his knees. With despair that shook even Hiei's frozen (charred?) heart, the big man let out a long loud cry of "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

For the second time that day, Kurama's head hit the desk.

Yusuke looked shocked and upset. "Well if you didn't want cupcakes you should have told me! I'M NEVER DOING ANYTHING NICE FOR YOU EVER AGAIN!"

"Yusuke!" Keiko exclaimed rushing over to him.

"Hi Keiko!" Yusuke said, happy again, "Here, have a cupcake!" He plopped one down in her hand. "Try it!" he insisted, "It's a new flavor I'm trying out. I thought it up earlier and it just sounded way too delicious not to make."

Keiko took the cupcake from his hand and examined it carefully before letting out a little cry.

"What is it Keiko?" Kurama asked.

"It's chocolate…with relish frosting."

It was all the proof they needed. Yusuke was pregnant.

_Muahahahahahaha you see? They do what I want! Muahahahaha the power!!_

_Read and Review!_


	4. Miniatures of Hands

_Wow, thanks so much to all who reviewed, you guys are awesomelicioustastic. Here's chapter 4, read and review! Usual disclaimers. _

"Aww!" Botan cooed, "Look how small it is still!" The group was crowded around Yusuke inside a doctor's office in the Spirit World. He had been rushed there as soon as they had made the realization that Yusuke was indeed pregnant. Pregnant and moody.

"Would you guys get off of me!" He yelled. "And stop it with the ultrasound! That gel goop feels disgusting. Like goblin snot or something."

"Hn. I thought you were having a baby, not turning into one," Hiei commented.

"Yea," Kuwabara chimed in, "Loosen up Preggers."

Yusuke's eyebrow twitched. "Must…kill…Kuwabara…"

"Take it easy there Yusuke," Koenma advised, "You don't want to upset the baby."

"Screw the baby! Get it out! Why are you letting an unknown demon grow inside my stomach anyway?!"

"Yusuke has a good point there," Kurama said, looking up from the ultrasound screen, "We should get him into surgery right now and remove the egg. It could very easily kill him if it reaches maturity inside his body."

"Hmm," Koenma said, "Botan, did you ever find any information on this type of demon?"

"No sir," the ferry girl snapped to attention, "I couldn't find any record of this specific type of demon. It must be from one of the deeper levels of Demon World."

"Strange that it would venture up this far," Koenma said. "Extreme precautions should be taken. Kurama what you think?"

"We don't know what it is and I'm getting a very bad feeling from it. I think it should be destroyed sir."

"Hiei," the prince addressed the koorime, "Can you get into its mind? I'd like to learn a little more about it before we just destroy it."

"WHY DO YOU WANT THAT? IT"S GOING TO KILL ME GET IT OUT NOOOOOWWWWW!" Yusuke wailed. Then he yelped again as Keiko's had made contact with his face, "OW! Keiko, what was that for?!"

"Stop being an idiot," she said, "It might be able to kill you if we threaten it."

"Hn," Hiei said. "No. Since the mind is still young it doesn't have direct thoughts. All I can understand from it are feelings and those are still underdeveloped. Its thoughts will mature as it does."

"Koenma, we should remove it immediately," Kurama pressed, "This egg killed another demon and it's obviously dangerous. We don't want to take the chance and there's less of a chance that the being will be able to defend itself from inside the egg."

The toddler prince sighed, "Yes I suppose you're right Kurama. Botan, get the surgeon we should get this done as soon as possible!"

Botan sighed and for a moment looked unhappy. She didn't want to take a spirit so soon into the world of the dead, not before it had had a chance to at least see the outside. She took another look at the picture on the ultrasound; the little demon nestled in her egg suspended in Yusuke's abdomen. You could even tell what gender it was if you looked close enough…

"It's a girl," she said quietly, looking at Keiko. And she started for the door.

Keiko started. A girl? Just an innocent little baby girl? She took another look at the ultrasound screen and stared at the little figure curled up inside her protective little shell. So tiny! Even her hands were just minute, and her little fingernails! Keiko found herself smiling at the small girl. You know, she wanted a baby, why not this one? It's just a little girl, it looks human from here, they were a weird enough family as it was, why not add one more weird member?

"Wait!" she called. Botan turned from the door, the boys, discussing the creature turned and stared at her. She looked down at Yusuke and said, "Let's keep it."

"Keiko are you crazy?" He asked, "This thing is dangerous, we don't know what it is and it could kill us all."

"Look Yusuke," she said. She took his hand and pointed to the screen. "It's just a baby girl. No horns, no tail, you can even see her fingernails. Look how tiny she is. Do you really think that little thing could hurt you? You're a big bad demon and you don't think you could handle a little baby?"

She watched as she saw the change come over Yusuke's face and she knew she had him. He looked back up at her, "You really think we're ready for this?"

She answered honestly, "No. But I'm willing to give this a shot. But only if you are too."

"…Ok then," Yusuke said, conviction returning to his voice, "Let's do this then."

Keiko smiled widely and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you love," she whispered in his ear.

"You can't be serious?" Koenma said outraged. "You don't have my permission to give birth to an unknown species of demon in the human world!"

"Oh come on Koenma," Botan said, "Let them do it. Honestly, what could happen? Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei are three of the most powerful demons! I'm sure they could handle an infant."

"There are too many possibilities," Kurama said, "It's too dangerous. For Yusuke and for the world."

"Cough…drama queen…cough," Kuwbara said, "Kurama, it's not our decision it's Urameshi's and Keiko's. And Botan has a point; we could handle anything that came out of Pregger's stomach here."

"KILL KUWABARA! OW! KEIKO, STOP THAT! OW!"

"Shut up Yusuke!" Keiko commanded. Yusuke shut up, he knew what was good for him.

"You all are insane!" Koenma shouted. "No way am I allowing this!"

"Koenma," Keiko pleaded, "Please?" She made puppy dog eyes at him. "Pretty please?"

"Ugh, fine," the prince conceded, "But it's your responsibility to clean up any messes that come from this. Is that understood Yusuke?"

"Yea yea yea, I got ya pacifier-breath."

Hiei sighed and thought to Kurama, _Baka ningens going to get us all killed. _

_Not necessarily,_ Kurama thought back, _It could be ok. And we could handle it if its not. You have to admire Keiko. She's willing to raise a demon to have a daughter. She's very brave._

_Hn. Or stupid. Whatever fox. Baka ningens and their emotions. _

Kurama chuckled. Inside however, he was deathly worried. Yusuke had no idea what he could be getting them all into.

Botan left them at the portal, souls to guide to the afterlife and all that jazz. Kurama, still worried, and Hiei walked with Kuwabara, Keiko, and Yusuke back to Yusuke's apartment. Hiei felt a shiver start up his spine and suppressed it. Something was making him nervous. The wind was wrong. The night was too quiet. And that was when he sensed it. He flitted quickly out of sight, into the thicket of bushes on the left side of the sidewalk.

Kurama marked the movement and slowly drew a rose out of his long tresses while signaling Kuwbara that trouble was afoot.

He nearly missed blade that came out of the night, flying toward Yusuke. _Whip, snap!_ The blade broke apart easily against the rose whip. With a wailing cry, a demon launched herself out of the nearby tree and almost onto Yusuke. If she hadn't ran into Hiei's katana blade of course. Her arm, neatly sliced off at the shoulder rolled away on the ground.

Yusuke, finally alert, had thrust Keiko behind him and stood between her and the demon now writhing on the ground. Keiko recoiled in shock and disgust. The demon in front of her was a light blue, with watery eyes green as the sea. Her hair was also a deep green, and looked like seaweed snared and snarled together. She rolled in pain on the ground but as the group watched; her arm healed itself, and what could only be described as a bud appeared on the end.

Kurama gasped, the creature was regenerating her arm. Hiei, taking action, picked her up by the collar of the garment she wore, and flung her against a tree, somehow holding her above the ground despite the fact that she was much taller than he.

The creature hissed in his grip and her eyes shot death glares at him but struggle as she might, she could not free herself from Hiei's vice like grip. Then she stopped struggling, not going limp but rather gathering her strength. She locked eyes with the fire demon, smiled, and sang out, in perfect pitch, a long, high note.

Hiei gasped and faltered in his grip, releasing her and falling backwards. He suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. He was helpless.

"Hiei!" Kurama shouted, flinging around his whip. He lashed out at the demoness, slicing at her chest and stomach. She hissed like a snake when he finally made contact with her thigh, leaving a long red gash. The hiss was like a bell to Hiei and he snapped out of his daze, immediately firing up.

"Fist of the Mortal Flame!" He shouted, attacking the demon. She hissed again but screamed in pain and fear when the fire touched her skin. Lashing out, she drove Hiei away from her and raced off into the woods.

"No," Kurama said, holding back Hiei as he went to race after her, "Let's get them home. Keiko's in trouble."

"Keiko! Keiko!" Yusuke was holding the girl; he had caught her as she fell to the ground after hearing the demon's call. Her eyes were glazed over and vacant, her mouth hung slack.

"Come on guys let's go!" Kuwbara stood, sword in hand, standing guard over the pair. Together, Yusuke carrying Keiko, they raced home. Bursting through the door, Yusuke ran in the living room and gently lowered his fiancé onto the couch.

"What's wrong with her Kurama?" He practically shouted at the fox demon.

"I don't know yet Yusuke," Kurama said calmly, "Hiei, get me some hot water. Kuwabara, a towel please." He pulled a seed from his hair and dropped it into the cup of hot water Hiei brought to him. Almost instantly, the water turned a deep garnet color and smelled strongly of raspberries and rosemary.

"It's just a stimulant," Kurama said to sooth the look on Yusuke's face. Kuwabara handed him a washcloth and Kurama dipped the end of it in the water. He set it lightly on Keiko's lips, and allowed the steam from the cup to lightly wash over her face.

Yusuke watched as she inhaled deeply, closed her eyes, and then opened them again, blinking rapidly. She tasted the mixture on her lips and breathed deeply again. Kurama gently removed the washcloth and she sat up. Yusuke enclosed her tightly in his arms and pressed her to his chest. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the scent of her hair, and said, "Thank you Kurama."

"You worry too much," Keiko teased him. "Now let me go, you're embarrassing me."

"But that's what I do best!" Yusuke mocked her. "Ow, no pinching! Alright, alright, excuse me for being happy you're ok."

Keiko straightened her hair, "You're forgiven. Now will someone tell me what happened? What was that and what did she do?"

Silence and confusion penetrated the air. "A type of sound-based attack," Kurama finally said, "I've never seen anything like that before." And it made him uncomfortable, not knowing what something was.

Hiei too felt uncomfortable, but angrier that the demon had gotten under his defenses somehow. He had had her hadn't he? How did she disarm him like that? What was that attack?

Kurama rose, "This needs to be reported to Koenma. Stay here everyone, I'll be right back." He went into the kitchen for a little privacy. When he returned he had some grim news. "Koenma couldn't identify the demon either," he reported, "But said that since Hiei's attack seemed to frighten her, he should stay here tonight. In fact, we should all stay here tonight, for safety."

Keiko got to her feet nodding, "I'll get some sheets, this couch folds out. Help yourself to whatever's in the fridge." The offer was a little late; Kuwabara was already eating his way through the remains of a chicken.

Hiei settled himself in the windowsill, determined to keep watch. Nothing would get by him this time. It was going to be a long night.

One month later, and Keiko was trudging her way home. It was pouring rain, very out of season for this time of year, and Yusuke had been insisting upon seafood for dinner. Seafood? Keiko wondered; Yusuke hated seafood. But weird cravings had been the theme of the month. Last week it was pickled pig's feet. The smell still hung around in the apartment, clinging to the air. Keiko had picked up some air freshener too. It was desperately needed.

She clomped up the stairs, soaking wet. Just as she was about to open the door to the apartment, she heard a high pitched scream coming from their room. Keiko flung open the door and found Yusuke rolling on the sofa, screaming like a girl. Or a woman about to give birth.

Keiko drew the communicator out of her purse where she had been keeping it ever since their last visit to Koenma's doctor's office where the good doc had told them that the fetus had matured rather quickly and that it would be soon. "Botan!" She exclaimed, "Get here now! It's time!" The screen went black and Keiko dropped to Yusuke's side, trying to calm him down.

Botan was there in less than a minute. Between the two women, they shoved Yusuke onto the oar and they took off, Keiko praying that Botan's crazy flying wouldn't shake the baby out of Yusuke in midair.

She ran to the meeting place, calling Kurama and Kuwabara on the way. When she arrived at the pre-determined portal location, she met the other three, for Hiei had been with Kurama, and they crossed over into Spirit World. If you couldn't tell, they'd been preparing for this day.

They ran excitedly down the corridor to the room where Yusuke would be in surgery. They burst through the door to find him lying on a bed surrounded by beeping medical equipment screaming his head off. Kuwbara burst out laughing hysterically.

"GET OUT!" Yusuke yelled, throwing something heavy at Kuwabara's head. Keiko ducked and ushered the others out the door, promising to call them when the baby was born. She was going to stay with Yusuke, whether he liked it or not.

The surgeon, an ogre fresh from the medical college, was being strangled by Yusuke who was screaming "GET IT OUT OF ME NOW!" Keiko crossed over to the bed and slapped him across the face, making him let go. And then Keiko, held Yusuke's hand and brushed back his dripping sweaty hair from his face as the demon was carefully removed from his stomach thanking the gods it wasn't her giving birth.

In less than an hour, the doctor laid the newborn demon in Keiko's arms and she lay down next to Yusuke, showing him their baby girl.

_R&R! Don't worry this isn't the end, more to come soon!_


	5. Slow Poison

_Chapter 5 up! Sorry it took so long. Hope this is going well, let me know ok? I love my revierers! I don't own YYH. _

"Wow, she looks human," Kuwabara said, leaning over the little baby girl in Keiko's arms. She had finally allowed the boys and Botan to enter the room after Yusuke "gave birth".

"Almost," Kurama agreed, "She'll grow up fast though, since she has demon blood. Can I hold her Keiko?"

"Sure, just be careful ok?" Keiko handed the little girl over to the red-head. Kurama held her with the utmost care. She was tiny. Like seriously tiny. And her sea blue-green eyes stared right back into his emerald ones.

Kuwabara tickled her with a finger and she grasped it, her hand not even able to reach around his littlest finger. The big man let out a deep chuckle, "She's cute Urameshi."

"She's adorable," Botan cooed over the newborn. Kurama handed off the baby to the ferry girl. "Awww….have you thought of a name yet Keiko?"

Keiko looked at Yusuke, still in bed relaxing after his surgery. He nodded at her and smiled. "Mina," Keiko announced, "Her name is Mina."

"Urameshi Mina," Koenma tried out the name. "It's got a nice ring to it. I'll enter her in the files. And," the prince went on, "I'm glad you convinced us to keep it, her, Keiko."

The brunette smiled and blushed. Yusuke wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "That's my girl," he said proudly.

"Here Hiei," Botan said, "You hold her." The room went silent as Botan handed off the newborn baby girl to the killer fire demon. "Like this, support her head," Botan encouraged.

Hiei's eyes widened an almost imperceptible amount as Botan placed the little Mina in his arms. He didn't know what to do with a baby, why did that baka ferry onna give him this little problem waiting to happen? He gave the little girl a fierce glare when she looked up at him which only intensified when she smiled back. Concentrating, the patch on his bandana covering his jagan began to glow. His brow furrowed and the girl giggled. Keiko smiled and relaxed a little.

"Hn. Baka baby," Hiei said after a few moments of silence.

"I think that means he likes her," Kurama whispered to Keiko behind a hand.

**Two years later…**the little baby was not longer quite such a little baby. She had matured quickly from spit and throw up to throwing tantrums. You think the terrible two's are bad? Try having a demon daughter and then go talk to Keiko. And she didn't even look like a two-year-old, due to her demon heritage she grew up fast and appeared to be a six-year-old human child. In fact, the ruse was so convincing that Keiko managed to get her into kindergarten a few years early.

And boy, was she strong willed and stubborn. Definitely her father's daughter. After further examination in Spirit World, it was determined that since she had lived so long inside of Yusuke, she had adapted and morphed to include some of his traits. Her hair was just as jet black as his and she had a very apparent dislike for authority.

She did however have some of her surrogate-mother's traits. Kurama theorized that this was nurture over nature in action. Mina loved to learn and excelled in class, becoming the first to read in her class, just like her mother.

Keiko and Yusuke were extremely happy with her. They were just so thrilled to have a child at all. And Mina was their little fairy-girl. She remained small and toothpick-thin despite the huge volume of food she ate.

Oh, and she inherited one more thing from her father. Little Mina was extremely strong.

Even though Keiko had technically forbidden any type of fight training at her age, Yusuke would occasionally take little Mina out for some "father-daughter bonding," their code word for training.

"Alright girlie," Yusuke said, "Give me your best shot. Right here."

"You asked for it Daddy," Mina taunted with a half-smile. She focused herself and her demon energy gathered around her in a crimson haze. With a cry, she launched herself forward, propelling herself with her energy, and landed a right punch directing into Yusuke's stomach.

The son of Raizen was forced backwards and skidded to a stop. He stood straight but grabbed at his stomach in pain. "Jeez girl!" He complained, "Have you been practicing on the boys at school?" He pretended to be upset and he was hurt but inside, he was proud of her. She'd be able to kick some ass one day.

"Not since Mommy told me not to," Mina said earnestly. "I've been good I promise!"

"Yes you have been good sweetie," Keiko said walking into the clearing, "It's your father who's in trouble." Her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

_Damn it! How does she always know? _Yusuke thought.

"It's called women's intuition honey," Keiko said with a cocky smile.

_Damn it!_

Keiko smiled in spite of herself. "Now come on Mina, it's almost time for your party and we've got to get you cleaned up so you're ready for everybody."

The little girl skipped over to Keiko and danced lightly around her. "Is there cake mommy? Who's going to come? Will Kurama and Hiei be there? What about Ms Botan? And will that other baby be there? That prince guy, he'll come right? Kuwabara too right? Right mommy? Mommy, are you listening?" The flurry of questions came out rapid-fire fast.

Keiko and Yusuke laughed. "Yes Mina baby, all of them will be there," Keiko said, "Are you sure you didn't have any friends your age that you wanted to come?"

Mina made a face, "No way. They're all babies anyway. None of them are cool like Kurama or Hiei and none of them will do my hair all curly like Botan." The little girl lowered her head, "None of the kids in my class like me anyways."

Yusuke frowned, "That's not true Mina. They just don't know you yet."

"Just be friendly and they'll come around," Keiko said, trying to be cheerful, "You'll see."

"Yes mommy," Mina said obediently. She grabbed the hands both of her parents offered and laughed as the swung her high up in the air as they walked. She didn't see the look of concern that passed through her parents. They knew Mina didn't exactly fit in at school, most of the human children's instincts had warned them away from her without really knowing why.

The apartment looked like a six year olds paradise. Streamers decorated every inch of ceiling, a piñata hung from the left corner of the roof, bowls of candy were on every table top within easy reach of the birthday girl. But the thing that dominated the child's attention was the gigantic stack presents piled on the coffee table.

"Mommy can I open them now?" Mina asked Keiko for the zillionth time.

"Not until after cake," Keiko told her for the zillionth time. "Now come on, don't you want to play pin the tail on the donkey with Uncle Hiei?"

"Hn. Don't drag me into these childish games onna," the short demon said.

"Uncle Hiei?" Kuwabara laughed. Hiei glared at him evilly and Kuwabara put his palms to his forehead in sudden pain.

"I don't want to play with him anyway," Mina said sticking her tongue out at the koorime, "He cheats. Daddy told me about his Jag…Jager eye. He can see stuff I can't and it's not fair."

"It's a Jagan eye, baka baby," Hiei mocked her.

"Whatever," Mina waved it off with a hand, "And don't call me a baby. I'll be bigger than you in a few years."

Everyone laughed at Hiei's expression. "Hn," the fire demon grunted, "Fine, I'll play your idiotic game if it'll get you to stop pestering me."

Mina danced in a little circle. "Ok but only if you promise not to use your funny eye."

"Jagan eye baka baby." But he tied the blindfold around his eyes, and allowed the little girl to lead him in spinning around three times. Of course, the simple child's game of pin the tail on the donkey was no match for a strong experienced demon like him, which is why he had such confidence in placing his marker. He pulled off the blindfold and frowned, he was a little off. But that baka baby couldn't do any better.

"My turn my turn!" Mina proclaimed. Hiei tied the bandana around her eyes and spun her around. As if it took no effort for her at all, the little child turned around to face the correct direction, took two steps forward, and placed the tail exactly on the correct mark.

She whipped the bandana off and screeched in delight as her parents and friends erupted in laughter. Hiei was stunned. "Hn. Stupid ningen game. Baka baby girl."

"Hey I'm no baby," Mina said loudly pointing her finger at him, "And I beat you! Hah!" She danced around the fuming fire demon. Hiei picked Mina up by the back of her overalls and tossed her onto the couch. Mina screeched at him and went to pummel him with her tiny fists.

"Yep. That's Yusuke's kid," Koenma said rolling his eyes as he watched the demon argue with the child.

The words were meant as harmless, but they struck a nerve in Keiko. She knew Mina was not her true daughter, but it wasn't as if Yusuke had cheated on her or anything. Still, she wanted to know who this demon woman was who had implanted her eggs within her husband-to-be.

The doorbell rang. Keiko got up, confused, she wasn't expecting anyone else. She reached for the doorknob, but was stopped by Kurama's hand on her wrist. Then she noticed how the room had gone silent.

"What is it?" she asked Kurama.

"That's no human behind that door," Kurama said, gently guiding her away from the door. "It's a demon. The same one we encountered on the way back from Koenma's that night."

"How can you tell?" Keiko asked.

"The scent," Hiei said. He grasped Mina by her upper arm and pulled her behind him protectively.

The little girl clung to his cloak, "What's wrong Uncle Hiei?" The demon growled at the nickname and responded by placing his hand on the hilt of his blade.

The person behind the door knocked again. Yusuke got up, made sure that Keiko was protected by Kurama and Mina by Hiei, beaconed Kuwabara to a spot just to the side of the door, and then flung it open wide.

There she stood. That same demoness who had attacked them and bewitched Keiko. She stood panting in the doorway, a hood covering her hair but the eyes, the eyes were the same. Keiko gasped. Those were Mina's eyes.

The demoness avoided Yusuke's direct gaze. "May I enter?" she asked in a raspy voice.

"That all depends on what you're planning on doing here," Yusuke answered nonchalantly.

"I only wish to see her…my daughter," she said. All eyes in the room turned to Mina.

"I'm sorry but you must be mistaken," Yusuke said, an edge of anger creeping into his voice, "But that's my daughter. I think its time you left."

"No!" The demon cried, "That is my daughter and I never wished her to be born to filth like you! That's why I tried to take her from you that night, so that I could rear her myself even if it meant sacrificing my own body. The others of my tribe would raise her as if she was their own and it would have been better than that filthy human!" She spat at Keiko.

"Hey!" Mina shouted at her, stepping from behind Hiei, "That's my mother! Don't you dare touch her!" Her energy rose around her, covering her with a red glow.

Hiei growled, "Baka baby now's not the time." He wrapped an arm around her waist and was shocked to feel the strength of her power. _Gods what has Yusuke been teaching her! _He thought. She was about to fly out of his grasp.

The demoness at the door gasped, "My baby!" She sprang forward and Yusuke grabbed around the waist and flung her against the closed door. "Look how strong my baby is!" She said happily. She flung out her arms towards her biological daughter, "Come to me my baby and we'll go off forever from these horrible humans!"

"No!" Mina yelled, she started to cry, "No! I don't like you! You're scary and mean! Mommy, mommy!" She cried, running into Keiko's open arms. The brunette picked up the child, squeezing her tight to her chest.

The demoness wailed at the sight, a heartbreaking sound. "No," she wailed, "My daughter, my baby, she's mine!" She launched herself away from the wall and Yusuke and, thrusting Kurama out of the way, had her hands wrapped around Keiko's neck, chocking the life out of her.

Yusuke started forward in fury but Mina was closer and faster. Without hesitation, Mina focused her energy into her fist and let out a mighty punch straight into the demoness's stomach. The demon gasped in pain and relinquished her grip on Keiko's neck.

Mina refocused her energy and threw another punch propelling herself upward, this time upper cutting her hard in the jaw. The demon hissed as she hit the wall and blood dribbled from her mouth. She looked heartbroken as she realized that it was her daughter that had hit her. "Listen to me," she hissed through broken teeth, "That child was never meant to be born of human blood. Great evil now threatens because of it. She is evil. Give her to me and allow my tribe to dispose of her as we should."

Keiko gathered the little girl into her arms, "No. You're not taking her. Yusuke, I think it's time that our guest left."

"My thoughts exactly," he said cracking his knuckles. Kuwabara stepped up behind him, sword in hand.

"No," the demon insisted, "You must listen. Great evil she will bring to you. Horror and destruction upon the worlds! No. No!" She screamed as Yusuke lifted her by the neck and threw her down the stairs.

Mina clung to Keiko. She looked around at the stunned faces of her friends and family. _I'm…evil? Just cause my daddy is human instead of demon? But, I'm a good girl, _Mina thought to herself. Out loud, she said, "I'm a good girl Mommy, I promise."

"I know sweetie," Keiko said. She pressed the little girl's head to her chest and shared a look with Yusuke. He, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama all stared at each other. They had to get to the bottom of this one fast.

_R&R pretty please!_


	6. Blood

_Hey everybody. Here's another chapter, sorry if I don't update too often, I'll try to be good. I don't own YYH. _

Mina was upset the next day. Her party had ended on an unhappy note and her mommy's smile had seemed strained when she tucked her in last night. Daddy had left with the baby prince to "investigate" the strange demon that had appeared. Mina shuddered at that memory. That was not her mother. Mommy was mommy duh.

_Stupid demons,_ Mina said. _Daddy shouldn't have let her get away. I wanted to hit her more. _So wrapped up in her own thoughts, she didn't think to duck when a book came whizzing through the air and struck her on the back of the head.

She cried out, sinking to the floor and rubbing her injured head. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes. She wiped them away when she saw feet in front of her. Mina looked up into the eyes of Mamoru, the class bully.

"Better watch where you're going baby," Mamoru taunted. His ever-present group of followers chuckled. Mina tried to keep her temper, she knew she was stronger than they were and didn't want to hurt them even if they were mean baka ningens.

"Aww," Mamoru made a pout face, "Is the little baby hurt? Is she crying? Does the little baby want her momma?" They always made fun of her age. Mina's fake age was less than their real ages and of course her small stature didn't help get rid of the 'baby' title.

"Go away Mamoru," Mina said carefully, "I don't want to fight." She really wasn't in the mood today, someone could get hurt. And it sure wasn't going to be her. Mina stood up, barely coming up to Mamoru's shoulder. But then again, he must have had an over-active pituitary, he was a big kid.

Mamoru pushed her back down on her bottom. "Doesn't matter what you want shrimp," he said cruelly, "I don't like babies in my class." Mina stood up, and he pushed her back, making her fall back a step or two.

Mina felt the flicker of power triggered by anger. _Baka ningen,_ she thought not even realizing how much she sounded like Hiei. _Daddy would tell me to stick up for myself but Mommy would tell me not to get in trouble at school. _Then Mamoru hit her. Lost in her mental debate, she again didn't duck when he slapped her across the face. Then it was too late, she was gone.

Faster than any human could move, Mina spun around, ducking under Mamoru's next blow. She planted her feet and planted a hard left in his stomach. Mamoru fell backwards, holding his gut, and Mina took advantage of the situation and shoved him hard again. He fell to the floor with a loud _thump. _

Mamoru's followers looked at the little girl with fear. Mina stood over her fallen prey, anger in her eyes and hands clenched into fists. Mamoru looked up to her with pure terror in his eyes and started to cry.

Mina scoffed, now a little ashamed that she had wasted her energy on a weakling. "Now who's the baby," she said coldly. She gathered her book bag together and turned to run away but ran right into her teacher's leg. The teacher looked down, raising an eyebrow, arms crossed, foot tapping. Mina looked down, she was in trouble now.

The metal legs of the chair clanged a little as Mina swung her feet back against them. She sat in the Principal's office. She had been reprimanded against fighting by her teacher and then the nurse and then the Principal himself. And now they had called Keiko and she was yelling at her too.

"You know better than this Mina," Mommy said, "I'm very disappointed in you."

Tears leaked out of the corners of Mina's eyes. Nothing hurt worse than that. Not Mamoru's hits, not training when she got bruised sometimes, nothing hurt worse than disappointing her mommy. She knew she deserved it too, Mina knew she was stronger than them and she shouldn't fight those that couldn't defend themselves. So Mina cried silently, knowing she had done wrong. "I'm sorry Mommy," she said quietly, not meeting Keiko's eyes.

The Principal cleared his throat, "Now, we do have a zero-tolerance policy here when it comes to fighting. I'm sorry, but we're going to have to expel Mina."

"What?" Keiko rounded on the Principal, "But what about the child that hit her? Mamoru? Is he going to be expelled as well?"

"Well," the principal looked a little nervous in the glare of Keiko's wrath, "Mamoru is a fine student and we recognize that he just made a mistake." He didn't want to admit that Mamoru's parents were basically bribing him to keep the little brat there; they had donated a huge sum of money to the school.

"And Mina didn't?!" Keiko was furious, "Zero-tolerance means that you don't even allow for mistakes. Expel Mina and you're forced to expel Mamoru as well. Mina's a better student than him anyway." This was true naturally. Little Mina was the top student in her class.

"Umm," the principal stuttered, "Well…I suppose we can give them both another shot. But one more incident of this and she's out, and that's final."

"Fair enough," Keiko said, "Don't worry; there won't be anymore incidents like this." She glared down at her little adopted daughter. Mina just lowered her head again.

At home, Mina was given a time-out to wait until her father got home. Keiko stayed out in the living room and kitchen, furiously cooking dinner and cleaning. Mina listened to the commotion outside and knew she was in for it later. She wanted Uncle Hiei there. And Kurama too. Hiei was her friend she knew, even if he did tease her. Hiei would have agreed with her punching the little baka ningen brat and then he would tell Kurama who could reason with Keiko and Kuwabara would laugh and Daddy would say how proud he was of his little girl who could stand up and take care of herself.

But that wasn't really going to happen and she knew it. Daddy was not going to be happy.

Mina stayed in her room and tried to read until she heard her daddy come home from work. She heard the raised voice of mommy telling him what his little girl had done and how it was his entire fault for teaching her how to fight. Mina heard daddy try and calm mommy down by saying it was ok.

"And why shouldn't she stick up for herself?" Yusuke said loud enough for Mina to hear inside her room.

"Because she's going to seriously injure one of those boys one day if this continues," Keiko said, "She's not human, she's got your strength and she doesn't know how to use it."

"That's why I've been trying to train her," Yusuke said, "I was trying to show her how to control herself before something like this happened."

"I guess I'm the wrong one then," Keiko snapped, "I'm just the stupid human right?"

"No Keiko you're overreacting," Yusuke said trying to calm her down, "Listen I've got an idea. Let me take her into demon world for a few months with the guys. There she can use her powers all she wants without fear of really hurting anyone and we can train her to control it."

"She's just a baby Yusuke," Keiko argued but she was calming down, "You can't take her into a place like Demon world, she'll get killed."

"Oh come on, you don't think that Hiei, Kurama, and I could keep an eye on her?"

"Well," Keiko admitted, "You could. But…It's more that I don't want her to be gone for that long. I love her Yusuke, and you too, I don't want either of you gone for that long."

Mina sniffed back a tear and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "I know but what other choice do we really have?" Yusuke asked, "We need her to be able to control herself if she's going to be able to live in this world."

"What about Genkai?" Keiko asked excitedly. "We could get her some training with Genkai just in the afternoons, after she's out of school."

"Worth a shot," Yusuke agreed, "But I don't think grandma will be up for the idea."

"Just go and ask her," Mina could practically hear Keiko rolling her eyes. "And go and talk to your daughter."

_Uh oh, _Mina thought. Her door slowly creaked open and her father stepped inside, leaving the door opened a crack. Yusuke sat down on the bed next to the little girl and pulled her into his lap.

Mina burrowed her head into his chest and grabbed him tight around the middle, "I'm sorry daddy, and I didn't mean to hurt that boy."

Yusuke grinned down at his daughter and rubbed her head. "It's ok sweetie I know you didn't," he picked her up so he could look her in the eyes, "But you know not to do that."

Mina hung her head, "I know. He was just being so mean to me!"

"That doesn't make it ok and you know that," Yusuke said. "At school you're there to learn, but don't worry, tomorrow I'll take you to a place where you can fight. But only as long as you promise never to fight anywhere else and especially not against humans."

"Ok, I promise," Mina said solemnly, "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Yusuke tickled her a little and laughed as she giggled in that adorable little girl way. "Oh, and don't tell mommy this, but it sounded like you got him good. Nice punch," he winked at little Mina who just giggled.

The next day was Friday, but Keiko and Yusuke decided that maybe Mina needed a day off from school, so they took a trip up to see Genkai. Mina was amazed to see the paved streets and buildings melt away into trees and forest. The ancient temple where Genkai lived looked to Mina like the opening to a whole different world full of magic and adventure. She was literally bouncing up the stone stairway in front of her laughing parents.

Yusuke looked up from little Mina's antics to see Genkai standing with a slight smirk at the top of the steps. "Hey Grandma!!" He yelled and raced up the rest of the way with a big smile on his face, his little daughter tugging at her mother's hand to hurry.

"Hm," Genkai closed her eyes, "Hey Dimwit. I see you haven't changed much."

"Yea you neither you old bat," Yusuke said rolling his eyes.

Genkai opened her eyes and looked down the steps at the other two advancing figures. She looked up at Yusuke, "That's the girl?"

"Yep!" Yusuke said enthusiastically, "That's my Mina." The little girl came bounding up the steps and stopped just in front of the old psychic, looking up at her with big green eyes shining.

Mina bowed respectfully and said in her very best manners, "Hello Genkai. It's very nice to meet you."

"Well at least she's nicer than you," Genkai said to Yusuke, "Not nearly as ugly either." Mina giggled as her father grimaced and frowned. Genkai looked back at the little girl, sensing her aura. _The little dimwit isn't nearly as harmless as Yusuke led me to believe, he's been training her a little already. _She looked back up at Yusuke and said in a flat voice, "I won't train her."

Yusuke's jaw dropped, "What? Of course you can train her! Why not?"

"She's too strong already," Genkai said, "And she's your daughter and I'm not ready for another stubborn idiot."

"Mina's not an idiot Genkai," Keiko interjected, "She's really very fast at learning."

"She's probably some sort of evil demon," Genkai argued back, "I sense something weird in her aura. Something dangerous."

"And it's not in mine?" Yusuke challenged.

"You're not dangerous, you're just luckily strong and it seems to scare the people that don't know you're a dimwit," Genkai replied crossing her arms.

Mina frowned and turned around to sit down nearby as the adults argued. A bird fluttered nearby in a bush, catching her attention. Mina smiled and ran after it. It fluttered around her head and hopped a few steps away farther into the woods. The little girl smiled again and snuck after it carefully, so that her parents wouldn't notice.

The little blackbird swooped over her head as she ran after it in the woods. They were quiet and calm. The sunlight streamed through the trees like water, shafting through the leaves like colored glass. The bird lighted in on a branch far above Mina's head and began to sing. Mina smiled wider at the beautiful sound. It was as if the notes floated around her head before lighting carefully in her ears like little butterflies.

Carefully, not wanting to scare the bird, Mina tried to sing along with the notes. The effect on the little girl was magical. Matching the bird's voice, note for note, Mina felt a kind of power well up inside of her. She wanted more birds to hear her. The joy of unleashing her voice washed over her and she lifted her voice a little louder. Another bird joined the first on the branch, and another, and another right after it. Soon, the trees surrounding the little girl were filled with songbirds all joining in what was turning into Mina's song.

Mina, caught up in her own song, danced around in a little circle, delighted to see all the little birds around her. She never noticed the other visitors to the clearing. Then, as she turned, she saw her father, mother, and the old Genkai watching her carefully. She smiled at them and finished the song, allowing the last note to rise from her throat loudly. The birds simultaneously leapt from their perches, swirled in a black tornado around the child, and swarmed into the air.

Genkai narrowed her eyes at the girl and pursed her lips, wondering, what the hell kind of creature this little girl was. Keiko was astonished. "What was that honey?" She asked amazedly.

"I dunno," Mina said innocently, "One of them just started singing and it was so pretty Mommy! I just… I just had to. I didn't mean to cause trouble again." She looked down and kicked her feet, scuffing up dust.

"No sweetie," Keiko said giving her surrogate-child a big hug, "You're not in trouble. Mommy and Daddy are just a little…concerned."

"Keiko," Yusuke interjected, "Don't scare her." He walked over and picked up his daughter, hoisting her on his hip. "What do you say now you old hag?" He asked Genkai, "She needs some help."

Genkai stared at the little child intensely for a moment, but shook her head.

"What do you mean no?!" Yusuke practically shouted, "She needs some training and I sure as hell don't know what the hell she is or what she can do!" Mina buried her head in his shoulder, she hated making her daddy upset. Yusuke put his hand protectively over the back of her head.

"I can't train her dimwit," Genkai said, "She's an unknown type of demon. Koenma's told me all he knows about her and I can't figure out what to do about her or I would train her and you know it. But," she continued, "I might have someone here who could help us."

They walked back up to the temple and through the stone gateway. Genkai slid open the door, stepping out of her shoes before entering, the others close behind. At the table, two very familiar figures made Yusuke start in surprise.

"Yusuke," Genkai said, "I believe you've met Yomi and Shura."

_Hehe surprise surprise! R&R!_


	7. Certain War

_Hope you like this chapter, but I won't know unless you review! Usual disclaimers. _

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Yusuke asked happily as he stared at Genkai's surprise visitors.

"We were in the neighborhood," Yomi replied, "And I came to seek Genkai's advice on a training matter with Shura here." He laid his hand on his son's head. "And I will admit, I was hoping to see your little miracle here," he chuckled, "Well not exactly see but you get the idea."

Yusuke narrowed his eyes but set Mina down from his shoulders. She happily stepped forward and offered Yomi her hand, "It's very nice to meet you Mr. Yomi." Yomi laughed, "She's very sweet Yusuke. And who is this other lovely young lady with you?"

"This is Keiko," Yusuke replied, holding her hand, "My fiancé." Keiko blushed a bit but smiled at the word. She was a little unnerved by Yomi's horns.

"It's very nice to meet you too Mina," Yomi replied shaking the little girl's hand, "And you too Keiko."

"Now that the polite crap is over with," Genkai interrupted, "Why don't the little ones go into the other room and play with some of the games in there while the grownups talk?"

"I like games!" Mina said happily, twirling around.

"Shura," Yomi said, "Take Mina with you and do as Genkai says. Don't get into any trouble this time."

"Yes father," Shura grumbled, "Do I really have to play with the baby?"

"Hey!" Mina protested, "I'm no baby!" She turned around and pulled at his arm, "Now let's go play!" She pulled him off in a random direction, not knowing really where the game room was.

"Hm," Genkai smirked, "She's got an attention span like her father."

"Old bat," Yusuke grumbled under his breath.

"Now," Yomi resettled himself, "Shall we all sit and have a cup of tea? I remembered it was your favorite Yusuke."

"Cut the crap Yomi," Yusuke said sitting and taking a cup of tea anyway, "What are you really here for?" Keiko sat quietly beside him, sipping a cup as well.

"Well if you insist on being direct, Yusuke," Yomi said with a sigh, "The reason I am here is to offer my assistance to you. It seems that you have a little problem on your hands. Your adorable daughter. And believe it or not, she's actually causing quite a stir in Demon world as well."

"What do you mean?" Yusuke asked.

"I believe that little child," Yomi continued, "your Mina, is the "chosen one" if you will of her species. And they are very anxious to retrieve her, as you may have noticed. I came here tracking one of the demons, her biological mother if I am not mistaken."

"You're not," Keiko said, "She crashed Mina's birthday party two days ago."

"Ah so I see I was correct in my guess. Mina must be the one," Yomi nodded, taking another sip.

"What do you mean the "chosen one"?" Yusuke asked.

"She has a prophesy tied to her heritage," Yomi explained, "Her specific lineage, if she had been born by the normal method they use, involving the implanting of eggs into earth demons, would have led to nothing that special, she would have been just another one of her kind. But, she was born to a human. Well, not technically, but it makes it worse that it's you Yusuke. She's twice as powerful now than she would have been."

"What's the big deal about the human thing?" Yusuke said earnestly, "Is she going to be ok?"

"Actually I'm not sure," Yomi sighed, "It's been frustrating me but no matter how many of her demons I…interrogate…I can't get any concrete answers. All I can say is that my intelligence says it's going to be bad. Possibly the end of the world, but at the very least it will cause a war in demon world if she stays here."

Yusuke rolled his eyes and shrugged, "Big deal, between Kurama, Kuwabara, Hiei and I, we could handle a few upset demons. We've been through worse. And honestly, if she's in my care, what could go wrong?"

Genkai rolled her eyes this time and muttered "dimwit" under her breath. "What couldn't go wrong?" she said out loud, "She's obviously important somehow. Or else the other demons wouldn't be so keen on killing her."

"Killing her?" Keiko asked, her eyes widening. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Yes," Yomi said sadly, "The demons in demon world are getting restless. They don't want to risk the fulfillment of the prophesy. It pains me to say it but if they found her, they would kill her."

"Don't worry Keiko," Yusuke said, grabbing and pressing her hand, "I'd never let anything happen to her."

"No Yusuke," Yomi said, "You couldn't stop this if they decided to attack. Her particular species of demon are very…persuasive."

"What is she anyway?" Yusuke asked, "I've kind of been curious."

"I don't know much about the species," Yomi admitted, "Only a bit and my information could be incorrect. You should ask your Prince Koenma to see if he has any knowledge stored about _Sirenia _demons. The point is though that the girl is dangerous, and will remain so unless she is properly trained. And the only one who can do that…is me."

"Why you?" Yusuke asked. "You just said that you don't know much about her anyway."

"True," the demon admitted, "But I also know more than anyone else, other than the demons themselves, does currently. And I'm one of the few that you can trust with your daughter. I'll take her to the upper regions of the demon world where she won't be in as much danger. And you know how well I could protect her and how much I could teach her. You should see how much Shura has grown in the time we've spent in the wilderness."

Keiko wished she could read Yusuke's mind right about now. This demon she had just met but heard much about, was now proposing that he take their two year old daughter away into the demon world. Red flags were waving wildly in her head and alarms were blaring shrilly. This sounded wrong, Yusuke had to sense it too.

As if on cue, Yusuke rose from the table smiling. "Well Yomi," he said smiling but Yomi could hear the edge to his voice, "That sounds like an interesting idea and I'm very grateful for your interest and help but I think that I'll take my chances here. I'd rather keep my daughter safe in the Human world and fight off the occasional demon then let her enter the Demon world where apparently everyone is out to get her."

Yomi stood as well, a stern look on his face, "It won't just be the occasional hunter Yusuke. I've heard rumors of a gathering of many demons to make a stand. Possibly invade human world and take the girl themselves."

"They won't be able to pull that off," Genkai spoke up. "King Enki's forces would take them out. If not them, then Enma's will. The girl will be fine here. I'll train her."

"You will?" Yusuke smiled genuinely, "Awesome grandma!"

"Don't push it dimwit."

"Keiko," Yomi now pleaded with her, "Surely you must be a little more concerned for your daughter's safety."

Keiko smiled sweetly at Yomi, "Actually, I agree with Yusuke. It seems to me that he and the others would be perfectly capable of fending off any attack that came our way. Thank you for the offer though."

Yomi sighed, defeated, "Very well then. Shura and I must go, but I'm sure that our paths will cross again. It was good to see you Yusuke."

"You too Yomi," Yusuke said, grasping his hand.

"Shura!" Yomi called out, "Time to go son!"

The two children obediently ran back into the room. Mina had a fierce look on her face and stuck her tongue out at Shura as Yusuke bundled her into his arms. Shura stuck his tongue back out at her but submissively followed his father out the door and into the woods.

After a short talk with Genkai, catching up on missed time and figuring out a schedule for Mina, the Urameshi family made their way home. As they made their way down the stone steps, Keiko noticed Mina holding the back of her head.

"Mina honey," Keiko asked, "What's wrong?"

"That stupid boy," Mina said frowning, "He pulled out my hairs."

Yusuke rolled his eyes, "Yea, he's not all that nice. But he's just a kid and he's learning. Yomi is someone that we can trust and is a friend of Daddy's ok?"

Mina nodded, "Ok Daddy, I'll forgive him and play nice next time we see him." To herself, she thought, _Yeah right, I'll show him the baby next time I see him. _

In the woods, Yomi and Shura crossed the border into demon world. Yomi turned to his son and asked, "You've got it, don't you?"

"Of course dad," Shura said, "She's just a baby." And he laid five jet black hairs into his father's outstretched hand.

Keiko had no homework that night, and the store closed early, so the three members of the Urameshi family had a night all together. Keiko watched as Yusuke tried to teach Mina how to stack cards on top of one another to make a house.

Mina couldn't do it. She kept getting distracted by the smell of baking cookies in the oven and when they finally came out, well… there went her self control right out the window. Followed closely by Yusuke's. Keiko's homemade cookies were to die for.

Together, the three of them cuddled on the couch and settled in for a movie. Yusuke wrapped an arm around Keiko, holding her tight, and Keiko played with Mina's hair as she lay on her lap.

To Keiko, it was another one of those perfect moments where nothing could go wrong.

Then the door burst open. Mina, who had been asleep, flipped out of her mother's lap in fright and landed on the floor. Botan flew into the room in a flurry. "Hurry!" she yelled, "The three of you need to come with my right now! Koenma's orders!"

"Botan!" Yusuke complained, "We've had a tough day, tell pacifier-breath it can wait until tomorrow."

"No it can't," Botan said, "We're under attack!"

"What?" Yusuke was on his feet, "Koenma's place is under attack? By who?"

"Demons. A huge army of B and C type demons," Botan said seriously, "We need your help now."

"Why," Keiko spoke up. She rose from the couch slowly, her eyes were shining with tears. "Why can't you just leave us alone?!" she shouted at the surprised ferry girl, "We're happy here without you, can't you just let us live in peace?" Yusuke's heart melted to hear the pain in his beloved's voice, he knew she hated when he was called on to fight. And that she blamed Koenma for it.

"Keiko," Yusuke's voice was soft as he grabbed his wife-to-be's shoulders and pulled her close, "I'm sorry. You know I have to. Come with me, you and Mina will be safer with Koenma." His voice was soft and pleading. Keiko looked up into his eyes and laid her head against his chest. She nodded. Mina's eyes furrowed as she looked at Botan, who had caused her mother this much distress.

"Come on," Botan said quietly, "There's not much time."

Inside Koenma's castle, the situation was getting desperate. Yusuke, along with Keiko carrying Mina, raced into the prince's office to find Kurama and Hiei already seated, both covered in numerous wounds.

"Woah, who told you to start the party without me?" Yusuke asked, "Are you guys alright?"

"Yes Yusuke," Kurama calmly answered, "It's only a few superficial wounds. Koenma called us in here for some strategy to combat the mob."

"How big is this thing anyway?" Yusuke asked the prince.

"Big," Koenma answered promptly. The screen behind him lit up with a view of the castle doors. In front of them, a huge mass of demons congregated, but they were surprisingly orderly for a mob.

"Hey," Yusuke asked again, "They're sure quiet for a mob. Is there someone in charge over there?"

"Hn. Thank you, detective," Hiei said scaldingly, "We would have never figured out that mystery without your help."

"Yes," the prince said simply talking over the annoyed fire demon. He pressed another button and the camera zoomed in on one demon in particular, standing at the very head of the army. She looked surprisingly familiar…

"It's Mina's true mother," Keiko stated amazedly.

"How she amazed this kind of force without my knowledge is amazing," Koenma said tiredly.

"This kind of organized raid must have been planned out long ago," Hiei spoke up. He was nursing his left shoulder where a few deep red scratches marred his skin.

"Yes but what is the purpose of it all?" Kurama mused, "This kind of preparation and tactical understanding takes time. Why put all the effort into this?"

The gears in Yusuke's head ground to a screeching halt. His jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out. He inhaled and exhaled deeply trying to regain control over his features. His mouth closed in a tight line and his brows furrowed in anger.

"Yusuke?" Keiko asked nervously, "Everything alright?"

The former demon lord shook his head slowly. A slight red glow surrounded his figure. "It's to get to Mina," he said slowly, "These bastards"—Keiko clapped her hands over Mina's ears just in time—"are just trying to bust a way into the Human world to get to her. Yomi warned us."

"Yomi?" Kurama leaned forward anxiously, "When did you see Yomi?"

"Earlier at Genkai's," Keiko answered, "He tried to convince us to hand Mina to him for training and protection for this exact event and was even more earnest about it when we denied."

Hiei's eyes darted to Kurama's for half a second. They both had the same thought. "This is Yomi's doing," Kurama voiced, "This level of organization, this kind of tactical knowledge, I recognized it, I knew it."

"I know," Yusuke said through clenched teeth, "I'll kill him." The glow around him strengthened. Mina drew back a little bit, amazed at this new strength she had never seen in her father. It was scary.

Even Koenma began to get nervous; Yusuke could be very dangerous when his loved ones were threatened. Time to intervene here. "No matter who is behind it," the prince began, "We need to find a way to stop it. I'm sure the three of you could easily finish off the entire mob in front of the castle, but we need to stop it at the source. We need to get to that demon."

"Oh," Keiko said, "I just remembered something else Yomi said. He said to look up _Sirenia _demons. He thinks that's the kind of demon that Mina is, but he didn't have any information about them." Koemna looked up at Botan, who nodded and whizzed away to look up the species in the archives.

"More than likely he did," Kurama said. His emerald eyes were slits, "He just didn't want to give up his advantage."

"Then he probably knew all about that damn prophesy thing he kept going on about," Yusuke said, still fuming.

"Prophesy?" Kurama asked quickly.

"Yes," Keiko said, "Something about her being the chosen one of her people. Again, he claimed that was all he knew."

"That complicates things," Koenma said, "We need information about this and we need it now." A deep resounding boom echoed across the castle. "And we need more time to find it," Koenma finished.

Mina was confused. Someone was attacking and her daddy was mad and her mommy just kept holding her tighter and tighter. But she did know one thing; she knew it was all her fault.

"I'll go fight the bad guys mommy," she said, looking into Keiko's eyes. "I can do it, I'm a big girl. Daddy taught me."

Keiko smiled down at the child, "That's ok honey, you don't have to do anything. Daddy will take care of us, just you wait and see."

"But I want to help," Mina said. She frowned, "This is my fault."

"No its not," Yusuke said angrily, "It's daddy's friend's fault."

"But I want to help!" Mina shouted.

"Hn," the koorime coughed, "Baka baby."

"I'm not a baby!" Mina yelled. She struggled and Keiko dropped her. Mina ran over to Hiei and punched at his arm, "I am not a baby and I want to help!"

The fire demon looked down at the little being that had now latched itself onto his arm in an attempt to pull him off of his chair. He rolled his eyes and stood, picking up the little girl in the process and holding her upside down in front of his face by her leg. "Stop it," he commanded.

"Make me!" she shouted in his face, flailing her arms. Hiei merely held her in front of his face until she tired out. With a final futile throw, Mina stopped and started to cry. Kurama tensed, ready to catch her if Hiei decided to drop her because she was annoying him. Instead, everyone was surprised when the fire demon sighed and turned the girl right-side up and sat down, resting her on his lap. The two shared a long stare.

"Stop it," Hiei commanded again as tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.

Mina hung her head, "Ok Hiei." Rather than climbing down off of his lap, the little girl instead snuggled closer to the chest of the demon. Hiei tensed, but allowed the child to do as she wished. He had seen the guilt and the anger and the fear building up inside her mind and knew that this was how she was going to deal with it. Kurama gave him a confused glance which Hiei returned with one of his death stares, daring the fox to call him out on being _sensitive._ Yeah, right.

"Koenma, sir!" Botan rushed into the room, "I found it! We only have this one entry in this volume but it may be just what we need!" She slammed the heavy encyclopedia down on his desk. The prince leaned over it quickly and carefully read the passage regarding all demons known under the _Sirenia _species.

Koenma's eyes widened. "Wow," was his final analysis.

"Wow?" Yusuke was still brimming with anger, "Can you give us something a little more useful here chief?"

"Yes, actually this is quite useful. Good work Botan. It says here that the _Sirenia _demons are Spirit Sirens," the prince read, "Their power comes from their control of their voice. They sing and can command the will of any type of living creature. Anything from plants to men and demons."

"This is why they are so organized," Kurama thought quickly, "Yomi is giving Mina's mother tactical advice and all she has to do is sing and command the mob."

"Great," Yusuke said sharply, "Now how do we stop her?"

"It says here that the only way to stop a siren is for him or her to be killed," Koenma read, "Or for another siren to sing as well, for command of the wills in question."

Mina looked up from Hiei's lap. "I can help," she said softly, "If my real mommy is a…siry-thingy then I am too right?"

"Siren baka baby," Hiei said annoyed.

"And no," Yusuke said, "It's too dangerous for you." He cracked his knuckles, "I really need to vent some of this anger too."

"It's too dangerous for you Yusuke," Keiko argued, "There's a whole mob out there, you'll get killed."

"Oh so you think Mina should go out there?!" Yusuke raged.

"No!" Keiko matched him, "I just think you shouldn't be stupid about this!"

"I know what I'm doing here Keiko!" Yusuke yelled, "I need to get out there and kill that bitch of a demon who wants to take Mina away from us!"

"You're being an idiot!" Keiko yelled back.

"Stop it!" Mina yelled out. But the way her voice lilted up a note, it sounded like singing. Immediately, Yusuke and Keiko shut up. They turned to stare at her. Mina was just as shocked as they were. "This is why those birdies were so nice to me isn't it?" she asked her soundless parents. "Daddy," she pleaded, "Let me help."

The pain in Yusuke's eyes deepened, "I don't want you to get hurt." He spoke softly.

Mina's eyes were hard and serious, "I can do it, I know I can."

Two minutes later they were standing just inside the great double entrance doors. Mina stood in front of them, she looked very small. Yusuke knelt next to her, grasping her shoulders tightly in his hands. "Be careful out there girlie," he cautioned, "And remember, daddy will be right behind you if you need help, just yell ok?"

"Ok daddy," Mina said smiling, she looked at her mother, "It's ok mommy, I'll be ok."

"You better be," Keiko said fuming, "for your father's sake."

"Don't worry Keiko," Kurama said, "We'll all be right behind her just in case anything should happen." The girl chocked back her tears before stepping to the side to watch.

"Hn," Hiei addressed Mina, "Do you have a plan baka baby?"

Mina giggled this time at the nickname and smiled at him, "Nope, I kinda thought I'd go out there and see what happens."

The fire demon snorted, "Just like her father." Then, together, he and Kurama opened a slit in the giant doors for the little girl to walk through. Then he, Kurama and Yusuke all slipped out behind her. They were to stay close to the wall and try to allow Mina to work her magic and step in if it seemed like she was in danger.

Mina stepped out a few more paces from the wall. The ground beneath her feet was covered in soft grass and a few small purple flowers bloomed up from the earth. She hummed a note and they seemed to turn their small heads towards her. For some reason, this reassured her. She didn't want to let her daddy down.

A few meters ahead, a mass of demons stood still, waiting for command. Mina could see her birth-mother behind them, she watched as her eyes widened as she recognized Mina and then watched as her mouth opened. Sweet notes came floating across the air and the mob moved in response, they began to approach Mina.

She knew what to do.

She thought of everything that had happened. She thought of the pain in her father's eyes and the tears on her mother's voice. Mina just wanted it all to go away, she wanted this pretend-mother to go away, she wanted to go to school and beat up the mean boys. Her mouth opened almost without her knowledge and notes poured from her throat, notes engorged with all the wanting and all the pain Mina was feeling.

The mob stuttered in its movement.

Mina's biological mother's song lifted higher. To Mina, it sounded evil in purpose and desire. To unseat its command, Mina unconsciously did the right thing. She sang of pure emotions. Running through her mind were all the memories she had of her family. Her daddy's smile and laugh, the proud look in her mommy's eyes when she tied her own shoelaces, the sweet taste of ice cream at the park, all these senses poured into her song.

Her biological mother's voice broke with her spell and she fell to the ground unconscious. The mob stopped moving. Each individual stood and shook their heads as if to clear them. They began to laugh at the little child standing in front of them singing, and then they got a good look at the three standing behind her by the wall and took off running into the woods.

Mina stopped singing with a smile. It had worked and her head was ringing and her heart was singing with pride and joy. It felt as if something had been awaked inside her. She looked back at her father, she was standing about midway between her father and true mother, and waved wildly. Yusuke was jumping up and down for joy, whooping with pride. Keiko was at his side doing almost the same but much more gracefully. Kurama waved at her and even Hiei crossed his arms and gave the girl a rare grin.

The joy was short lived. As Mina twirled around under the sky happily, someone barreled into her, immediately knocking her unconscious, and hurtled himself and the girl into the thick woods.

Yusuke roared in rage and Hiei took off after the intruder. He, of course, caught up to the kidnapper, but the assailant ducked quickly under his reaching grasp and turned swiftly, firing a powerful attack into Hiei's unprotected back. The koorime was propelled into a tree trunk, stunning him just long enough for the kidnapper to escape into the woods.

Mina was gone.

_Not the end, still a few more chapters left. Let me know if you liked this one! I'll update faster if you do! _


	8. Fed on Hate

_New chappie up! Review please, I loves my reviers! Usual disclaimers._

They searched for two years.

Immediately after Hiei returned alone from the woods, the three members of the team departed on a mission to locate Mina. That night, they furiously searched the surrounding woods within a fifty mile radius of Koenma's palace. The only sign that anyone had been there was a small camp set up on the outskirts of the plain where Mina had sung. As to where the kidnapper had gone, scent was the only clue. They followed it north to a river where they lost it. Mina could have been anywhere in demon world by then. Defeated, they returned to an upset and outraged Keiko. Koenma and Botan had been hiding under the desk.

So they made a plan. Hiei would go back to Mukuro and request permission for a special squadron to search the border between the worlds for the kidnapper. Kurama and Yusuke were to search the interior until Hiei finished his search and could join them. The next day, Yusuke kissed Keiko goodbye with the fierce promise that he would return with their daughter in six months.

He returned eight months later alone. They had not found Mina but Kurama and Hiei were still searching vigilantly, and using all of their influence and contacts to find the girl.

Yomi could also not be located, suspiciously enough.

For the next ten months, Keiko and Yusuke lived on edge, praying that some sign of their daughter would be found but the news was always the same. Nothing. No trace. It was as if Mina had been taken right off the face of Demon world. Koenma even got together a force to search the Spirit and Human worlds which Kuwabara himself led. Again, nothing.

Yusuke would return from work to find Keiko crying over a doll she had found under the kitchen table. Keiko would have to control Yusuke's anger whenever Yomi's name was mentioned. The two of them spent endless nights awake, praying to whatever gods were out there that Mina would come home safe to them.

Every night they were disappointed. But still the search continued relentlessly over the next six months, until finally, they realized they had looked everywhere there was to look except in the land of the dead itself. And of course Botan would have known if Mina had passed that way.

Still, Keiko and Yusuke cried and hoped and prayed and were let down every night. They even refused to marry until their daughter could be found. No one had the heart to tell them that it was hopeless.

Kurama and Hiei continued to search, combing Demon world top to bottom for the sake of their friends and for the sake of the little girl they had come to know and care for in their own ways. Even Hiei felt the sting of the baka baby's absence, he missed tormenting the child. Kurama occasionally showed his grief, but very rarely and only in the presence of his friends. Kuwabara, the big lug, wept openly when he went to see Keiko and Yusuke and found them crying over the loss of their precious daughter.

And still, nothing. After two years and three months, the search stopped. Exhausted and defeated, Hiei returned to his normal beat, Kurama returned to his studies, and Koenma closed the file on the kidnapping of Urameshi Mina.

And then one night, over two years later, there came a quiet knock at the door of the Urameshi residence.

Yusuke rose heavily saying, "It's probably just Kuwabara, I asked if he wanted to come over tonight for din—"he cut off quickly as he opened the door and saw who was standing behind it.

"Yusuke," Keiko asked, getting to her feet, "Who is—"she clapped her hands over her mouth as her eyes welled up with tears.

Mina stood in the doorway. Her black hair was longer now, reaching past her shoulders, and she was taller, but not much, and small scars traced their way across her bare arms where her torn long-sleeved shirt didn't cover. But it was her, their daughter.

Moving with speed Hiei would be envious of, Keiko and Yusuke ran to her and picked her up and suddenly they were all crying and saying over and over how much they had missed each other and how they loved her and she them so very very much.

When he could speak clearly again, Yusuke dialed the numbers of Kurama and Kuwabara relaying the good news and asking if they'd like to come and see her for themselves. Kurama, Kuwabara, and Hiei as well were all there within fifteen minutes and then there was more laughing and crying (on Kuwabara's part) and hugging and kissing before they all settled on and around the couch for Mina sat cuddled between her parents and they wanted to hear all about what had happened to her. Hiei sat in the windowsill.

"I don't really remember a whole lot," Mina replied to their questions with a shrug. "When that guy first grabbed me, I was knocked out right away. I think I must have been really tired from using my powers while singing. The next night, when I woke up, I was in this cave place deep in demon world. It was storming and I remember first seeing the silhouette of the guy bringing back food. He didn't expect me to be up but didn't say anything and just passed me a cup of water. Then he made dinner and explained why he had kidnapped me."

"You have a name for this guy?" Yusuke asked, a dangerous glint in his eye.

Mina shook her head, "Nope, never told me his name. I always called him 'Sir'." Yusuke looked disappointed.

"Why did he take you?" Kurama asked. "If we know his reasons, it may be easier to find him."

As Yusuke and Hiei nodded, Mina shook her head. "No way," she said, "I won't say a word about it if you're just going to go kill him. I learned how the demon world works, Dad, I know what you want to do and I'm not going to let you."

"Why not?" Yusuke asked angrily, "This guy took you away from me and your mother and didn't send us anything to tell us you were even alive. Do you know how we've spent the last two years?"

Mina looked down, tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry Daddy, but he was right, it was for my own good. In the end, he saved me."

"What do you mean?" Kurama asked.

Mina flashed him a smile and said, "I am a ticking timebomb Kurama. He saved me from myself and from those I love."

Keiko gasped, "Yusuke, that prophesy that Yomi talked about."

Mina nodded at her mother, "That's right Mama. This guy, he knew about it, and he didn't want it to come true, so he taught me how to use and control my powers and strength. That singing stuff, I can do it pretty good now."

"What was the prophesy? Did he tell you?" Kuwabara asked.

Mina shook her head, "Nope. He never did say. Said that I might be tempted to fulfill it if I knew."

Yusuke drew the girl in for a big hug. "I'm just glad you're home safe girl."

"Yep," Keiko agreed, hugging her from the other side, "You get to sleep in your own bed tonight."

"That sounds awesome," Mina said sighing, "I'm really tired. Actually, is it ok if I go to bed now? I can answer some more questions in the morning, ok?"

"Sure sweetie," Keiko said brushing back her hair, "What me to tuck you in like always?"

Mina smiled, "Definitely mama." Keiko and Mina rose from the couch and walked back to the girl's bedroom.

The boys hung around for a few hours, talking and making plans for another entrance into the demon world to perhaps find this mysterious kidnapper who apparently was not Yomi or Shura, much to the surprise and curiosity of Kurama. Hiei remained silent as he had all evening. He stared out the window with his eyes narrowed and arms crossed, waiting for Kurama to be ready to leave.

Finally they all said their goodbyes, and Kurama and Hiei left for Kurama's apartment. On the walk back, Kurama glanced at the fire demon. "Could you do it?" he asked.

"Hn," Hiei responded, "Of course, she's just a child still."

"Find anything?" Kurama asked.

"No," Hiei answered shortly, "Parts of her memory have been blacked out. I couldn't find many clues, except for an image of the cave she stayed in. I know where it is."

The fox demon nodded, "Good. Did you notice perhaps that she sounded like a tape recorder?" When Hiei narrowed his eyes, Kurama explained, "A tape recorder is a device humans use to capture and replay noises. In the sense I just used, it means that she's been rehearsing her story."

Hiei nodded, "She was lying."

Kurama closed his eyes and lowered his head smiling, "It's not like Mina to lie."

"I agree fox," Hiei said, "Something's wrong." They continued on in thoughtful silence.

That night, a black shadow flitted mutely into the room where Yusuke and Keiko slept. It drifted next to the slumbering form of Yusuke and lowered its mouth to his ear. After a minute, the shadow rose from the bedside and quickly darted out the open window. Yusuke, still asleep, rose silently from the bed and followed the shadow out the window and into the streets.

In Kuwabara's room, the shadow made the same motions, carefully lowering its mouth to whisper in the sleeping man's ear. When she rose, he did also, following her into the street where Yusuke still stood asleep. The three then silently darted to the apartment where Kurama and Hiei stayed.

They were not asleep. The shadow let out a soft curse at this discovery before deciding on a new course of action. Snapping its fingers, the shadow called Yusuke and Kuwabara forward. A new word or two in their ears and the plan was in motion. With a soft laugh, the shadow swung open the front door. Yusuke and Kuwabara barreled in. The shadow could hear Kurama's inquiry, "Yusuke, Kuwabara? What are you doing here?" And then there were two bright flares of color, orange and blue, as Yusuke and Kuwabara did their jobs and knocked out the two demons.

Well almost. Baka ningens. Another shadow came crashing through the window. It was Hiei, fleeing Kuwabara's sword, and with his own drawn. The shadow shook its head, this simply would not do. Silently, it darted forward and latched itself to Hiei's back, pulling him down and stunning him just barely long enough to utter a few words into his ear. His eyes became blank and his body, limp. On command, he stood and walked over to where the others were waiting. To the unconscious Kurama, the shadow uttered the same words and together, the five of them took off into the woods, running quickly towards the border to demon world.

Yusuke awoke on a hard stone floor. His hands were bound behind him and it seemed as if he was tied to a large stone pillar. His eyes were covered and his feet were also bound to the knee.

"Uhhhhhh," was the only sound he could make. He felt like his head was moving through deep water…or like he and Kuwabara had had another drinking contest. _Heh, that was a fun night, we should do that again,_ he thought. _Wait, problem at hand to solve first._ He tried to move but couldn't. And not just due to the bonds. His limbs would not obey his head's commands. But he could speak.

"Hey," Yusuke called out, "What the hell?"

"Shut up Urameshi," Kuwabara's voice came from his left, "I've already got a headache without your yelling."

"Kuwabara you idiot," Hiei's voice came from the right, "We're trapped, try to wrap your tiny brain around that for a moment."

"Alright let's not start that right now," Kurama's tones came from the far left as Kuwabara began to retaliate.

"Foxy boy is right," a rather familiar voice sang out, "You have much bigger problems on your hands at the moment."

Yusuke gasped, "Mina? Is that you?" His blindfold whipped off and in front of him, smiling sweetly, stood his daughter. "What is going on?"

"Nothing good for you Yusuke I'm afraid," Yomi materialized out of the darkness, Shura at his side. Shura went around and removed none-too-gently the blindfolds of the other three. Kurama's eyes were narrowed at Yomi, Hiei glared certain death at Shura, Kuwabara looked rather confused, and all Yusuke could do was stare helplessly into the haughty eyes of his little girl, his Mina.

"Mina, what are you doing?" he asked quietly.

The girl tossed her long hair like a princess and replied, "Fulfilling my destiny Father, what else?"

"Uh how did we get here?" Kuwabara asked dazed still.

"Mina," Hiei growled switching his glare to her.

She stepped back under its force but did not look away from his red eyes, "Yes. I bewitched you into following me here. In fact, Kurama here has a rather large lump on the back of his head thanks to you Daddy dearest."

"But why?" Yusuke asked.

"We needed you out of the way," Yomi crossed the room and laid his hands on her shoulders. "It's my entire fault I'm afraid Yusuke," he said, "You see, I needed her. And since you wouldn't give her to me, I had to have Shura take her. I've spent the last few years training her as I said I would."

"The scars on her arms are your fault?" Yusuke asked, anger rising in his voice.

"Yes," Yomi shrugged, "I've discovered that young demons learn faster when they are fighting for their lives. Fed on hate, they blossom like…roses in the sun." He turned his sightless gaze to Kurama, who was still silent but radiating rage. "And now Yusuke," Yomi continued, "I hold your daughter's allegiance. After all, it was I that discovered her true power. And I gave her, her destiny."

"Which is?" Kurama spoke up for the first time.

Shura stepped forward to answer. Smugness in his voice, he said, "Mina can destroy the Three Worlds. She can make us the rulers over all beings. We're going to be kings. As was our right before you stole it from us."

"Now now son," Yomi reprimanded, "Let's not be too rude. We want some of the action to be a surprise now don't we?"

"I didn't steal the kingship from you Yomi," Yusuke argued, "I just made it fair."

"You took from me what I was about to have, what I had worked for for centuries," Yomi raged, his control slipping, "I was supposed to be the King of Demon world! And now I will be, as well as the king of the human and spirit worlds."

"Mina," Yusuke pled his daughter; "You don't believe him do you?"

"Of course I do," she replied honestly, "He freed me from the prison that you and that human woman you live with were building for me. He lets me use my powers, not squash them. He doesn't want me to coexist in Human world; he wants me to rule it. I get to be a princess. Why wouldn't I want to help him?"

Hiei narrowed his eyes at the girl and she met his glare. Again, a long moment passed between the two. But at the end of this one, Mina did not retreat and try to crawl into his lap; instead, she grinned and laughed. "Won't work on me this time Hiei," she said, "I'm stronger than you think I am. Thanks to Yomi's training and my lovely lineage, I'm a lot stronger than I really should be. A lot stronger than any of my kind have ever been or ever should be. Your mind games won't hurt me."

The girl one by one met the gazes of her once guardians. All they could see in her eyes was greed, pride, and hate.

Yomi squeezed Mina's shoulder gently. "Let's get started, shall we?"

_R&R pretty please!_


	9. In the Sun

_Hey, I definitely need some review on this story. I'm thinking of writing a sequel and want to know if that would be interesting at all. Let me know! _

_I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. _

The sun was rising on the last day of the worlds. In her bed, Keiko was wondering where Yusuke had run off to so early with Mina. Koenma was just barely stirring, and at her home, Botan stretched like a cat.

On the top of a stone platform, where once Yusuke had tried out his demon powers, Mina stood, preparing to sing. Yomi stood to the side of her, silently comforting her. This had to be done perfectly. Shura guarded the four prisoners, childishly pestering Hiei while he couldn't move.

Mina rolled her eyes at him, muttering, "Baka baby." Shura spun with a challenge on his tongue, but Yomi held him back with a gesture.

"Don't you dare touch her," he threatened his son, "Or you'll pay with more than your life. She's more valuable than her weight in gold right now." Mina looked up at him with admiration shinning in her eyes and he smiled back. Shura narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Mina you can't do this honey!" Yusuke tried again. "Please just come home with me. Your mother misses you so much."

Mina laughed, the cold music of tinkling ice, "I'm not going back to that life. Something better is here for me."

"Mina," Kurama spoke coldly, "You don't know what you're doing. Yomi is lying to you, there's got to be a catch."

"Yea girl," Kuwabara spoke up, "Listen to Kurama, he knows what he's talking about. They used to be partners!"

"He's the liar Mina," Yomi again comfortingly placed his hands on the girl's shoulders, "I'd never hurt you."

"I know that silly," the girl laughed, "I also know the back story Kuwabara and I know better than to trust a backstabbing liar and thief like Youko Kurama. Just look at what he did to poor Yomi." She stared the fox right in the eyes, "I'd never trust someone like him."

"That's my good girl," Yomi said smiling, "Now, let's begin, shall we?" Mina smiled up at the demon and danced to the very edge of the cliff. The sky was getting lighter in the east as bright yellow rays broke into the violet edge of night. Mina watched carefully as the red blossom of the sun broke over the horizon; now it was time.

The first notes burst from her mouth with triumph. She sang a wordless song, rising and falling, echoing the rising birdsong around them. Or were the birds echoing her? And even though the melody was wordless, the team felt the washing of emotions come over them. Feelings of hate, destruction, and conquest filled the air until it finally seemed like the air was saturated with it.

And as the team listened, they felt their minds start to change. They felt themselves start to bend to the girl's will. Hiei shook his head to clear it, his jagan eye was only expediting the processes Mina put in motion.

"I understand," Kurama said with sudden understanding. He struggled against the onslaught of emotions, "She has to convince nature itself to eradicate all living creatures. Mina has to bewitch the very fabric of nature."

"Not sure I get that," Kuwabara said with panic, "But it sounds really really bad!"

All Yusuke could do was stare at this creature that had once been his daughter. He watched with horror as Mina, his little Mina, sang destruction to the world louder and louder. _No, no, no,_ he thought, _this can't be happening, it just can't! It can't! _

"NO!" he shouted at his daughter, "NO MINA STOP THIS ISN'T RIGHT!"

"HEY!" Shura yelled back, hitting Yusuke across the face, "Shut up!"

The song stopped with a screeching note. Mina rounded on Shura with anger and hate in her eyes. "DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH HIM!" She half sang, half shrieked. The earth beneath her rumbled as if infused with her anger. She flew at him, glowing red, and delivered a hard punch to the unsuspecting boy's ribs. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY FATHER!"

"Mina!" Yomi yelled desperately, "What are you doing? Finish the song! Now, before it's too late!"

But Mina was past listening. Her song had turned against her, the hate and destruction she was causing upon the worlds mirrored in her own body. And now she was going to take it out on Shura.

He had recovered from her first punch, although strong, little Mina was no match for the adolescent and he knew it. The demon boy smiled evilly, "Whatever. I'll do what I want to your dad you little bitch. And there's nothing you can do about it baby girl."

A low growl ripped from Mina's throat and the red haze around her thickened. Shura sank into a fighting pose as Mina lunged at him, attempting to kick him in the stomach. He twisted just in time, grabbing her by the leg and throwing her towards a boulder. Mina twirled in midair and used the rock to launch herself again at the boy, this time knocking herself into him towards the edge of the cliff. He stood just in time to catch her hands before they could claw out his eyes. They struggled on the very edge of the cliff.

"Shura! Mina!" Yomi shouted at the two, "That's enough! Stop that immediately!"

"No!" Shura protested, still fighting to keep the little girl's claws at bay, "You love her more than me! I'm better than her and I'll prove it!" In a swift move, he flung little Mina around again, now holding her by the arm over the edge of the precipice. Mina gasped and clung to Shura's arm. The two locked eyes for a moment. Then Shura smirked and released his hold on Mina's arm.

Yusuke's yell matched perfectly the pitch of Mina's screaming note as she plunged down the rock face. Before he had even realized what he had done, Yusuke leapt up and ran towards Shura, murder in his eyes. Suddenly, the earth shook violently, rocks fell from the edge of the cliff and Shura leaped backwards as a huge flock of birds shot up the side of the ledge. A giant condor, much larger than the other birds, swooped back down from the sky and Mina leapt from its back mid-flight, crashing into Shura's chest, knocking him towards the crumbling cliff edge.

They locked eyes. And this time it was Mina who grinned. She inhaled, preparing to sing, when Yomi grabbed her from behind, holding his hand over her mouth tightly. "No you don't," he said, "You'll do what you're told from me! And I command you to sing that final song! Hurt my son, and you'll have me to answer to you little brat." He emphasized his final threat by spinning her around and backhanding her across the face.

"Mina!" Yusuke shouted. He stood tall, finger pointed gun-like at Yomi. Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara stood next to him, his spirit sword ready. "Get out of the way!"

Yomi pulled the girl up in front of him, like a shield. "Not today Yusuke," he laughed scornfully, "This beautiful little child of yours is going to help me rule the world whether she wants to or not, and you're not going to stop me or I'll kill her." From the sleeve of his robe he drew a long knife and held it to Mina's throat.

"Hiei," Yusuke asked, never taking his eyes from his daughter's, "Can you reach her?"

"If necessary detective," the koorime responded, sliding his katana half out of its sheath.

"By the time you move," Yomi threatened, "I will have already slit her throat." Mina struggled against his grip violently, but she was too small to make any difference to the grown demon lord.

Mina looked into her father's eyes and saw the pain and panic there. For his sake, she calmed herself, taking a slow deep breath and remembered what she had been taught. _Feel, _she went through the mantra, _Feel and command. No hesitation. For my father._

The note ripped from her mouth with all the violence and devastation of a knife. It filled the air, rising into the very sky, and falling with all its force on Yomi. The demon fell to the ground, clutching at his over-sensitive ears in pain. Mina fell softly to the ground but continued the note, watching her former master writhe in pain. Yusuke leapt forward and bundled her up in his arms where she collapsed from the effort. When it stopped, Yomi struggled to his feet, Shura helping him carefully.

Silence covered the cliff top as the two sides stared at each other. Then Yomi tilted his head, his brows furrowed, "What's that noise?"

A low rumble had begun, deep in the earth, and building. The earth started to shake, boulders fell from the cliff edge and clouds gathered overhead, rumbling with thunder. "Kurama?" Kuwabara asked nervously, "What's going on?"

Yomi started to laugh, "You're too late! It's working, it's too late!" He let out another victory laugh.

"I'm not seeing the humor here!" Kuwabara shouted as the rumbling increased. With a loud crack like a gunshot, lighting struck the ledge violently and the ground ripped open, a long fissure running down the middle of the ledge between Yomi and Yusuke.

Yomi laughed again and, with Shura beside him, leapt off the cliff into the gathering darkness. Kurama and Hiei lunged after them but it was too late, they were gone.

"Look!" Mina shouted, pointing at the rising sun. Red streaks of sunlight pierced through the clouds in an angry display. Lightning crackled again and the ground shook harder. Mina buried her head in her father's shoulder. "I'm so sorry daddy," she cried, "I didn't think that would finish it."

"Don't worry about it sweetie," Yusuke said comfortingly but he was afraid. "Kurama," he asked, "Do you know what we can do about this?"

"I'm sorry Yusuke," the fox admitted, "I don't know what to do here."

"There's got to be something we can do!" Kuwabara shouted, "We can't just let the world end!"

"All three worlds are coming to an end idiot," Hiei snapped.

"Don't call me an idiot!" Kuwabara raged, "There's still enough time for me to kill you runt!"

"Wait that's it!" Mina said excitedly. She picked her head up from her dad's shoulder, "I know how to fix this, but you aren't going to like it."

"What is it?" Yusuke asked, setting her on the ground.

"I remember Yomi telling me once that there was only one way to reverse this spell," Mina explained, "He only told me to assure me that no one could stop us but now you can save everyone Daddy!"

"What do I have to do Mina?" Yusuke asked, gripping her shoulders.

"You have to promise first that you'll do it," Mina said seriously, "Promise me, daddy, that you'll do whatever I tell you to."

"I trust you honey," Yusuke said, "I promise."

Mina bit her lip and tears came to her eyes before she nodded, pushing down the fear. "The only way to reverse the spell," she said, "is for the mother who gave birth to the siren to kill the child."

"That doesn't really help us a lot Mina," Kurama explained, "We have no idea where your mother is."

"No don't you see," she said desperately, the rumble around them was rising and lightning ripped its way across the sky again, "The legend only means for the one who gave birth to kill its offspring. That normally is a mother, but in my case…" She stared into Yusuke's eyes, her blue brimming with tears.

Yusuke gasped as he realized what she meant. "No," he said, his voice shaking, "I can't do that. You can't ask me to kill you Mina. I can't do that."

"Daddy," Mina grasped his hands, tears falling from her eyes, "You have to. It's the only way to stop this. It's the only way to save everybody. It's the only way to save Mommy."

Everyone stood silently as father and daughter stared into each others eyes, crying. Tears flooded Yusuke's cheeks. "I can't do it," he whispered, "I'm not strong enough to do that."

Mina put her little hand on his cheek, "That's why I made you promise Daddy. Now you have to." Yusuke shook his head and pressed his daughter, his little girl, close to his chest.

Hiei stepped forward and grabbed Yusuke's shoulder, pulling him back to look him in the eyes. "It's the only way," he said simply, "Have some sense detective."

"Come on Hiei," Kuwabara exclaimed, "You can't really expect Urameshi to kill her? There's got to be another way."

"There's not another way," Kurama stated, he hung his head, his crimson hair hiding the look in his eyes, "Yomi would have told her of it. He always had a back up, a plan B in case things didn't go his way. Yusuke has to do it."

"What?" Kuwabara asked, "No way that's just way too messed up."

"We all must do what has to be done sometimes," Kurama said, "No matter what the cost we've promised to protect the worlds." Behind him Hiei crossed his arms and nodded, trying not to show how much this hurt him too.

"Do it daddy," Mina pleaded as the earth shook itself apart. The ledge was crumbling around them, great stones falling off crashing into the forest. The ground roiled and rolled as if it was water. "Do it now, before it's too late," Mina said in a quiet voice.

They locked eyes for the last time. Yusuke held her close to him for one last second and whispered in her ear, "I love you."

"I love you too Daddy," Mina said crying, "Tell Mommy I love her too." She hugged him tight again before jumping up and running back to the edge of the cliff.

Yusuke stood slowly, trying to pull himself together for this last act. He looked at his little girl standing, ready to do whatever it took, and smiled at how proud he was of her. He raised his arm and pointed at his daughter. "Spirit gun," he said quietly closing his eyes.

Everything flashed brilliant blue.

A terrible noise.

A terrible calm.

The sky was still dark. Lightning no longer flashed, instead, a healing rain fell in a soft curtain. The ground was silent and still. A bird dared to lift up its head and sing. In the east, the sun rose behind clouds with a soft light.

On a cliff, three figures stood around a small figure lying on the ground. Another figure knelt by the small figure, his head in his hands, sobbing. Yusuke reached down and touched the features of his daughter's stone face. It seemed that, in retaliation to trying to destroy it, the earth reclaimed Mina.

She was to lie forever as a stone figure. Yusuke stroked the youthful planes of her face and cried. Kuwabara's eyes weren't dry either and he knelt by his best friend and held him up. Kurama cried silently, his hair swinging forward to hide it. Hiei's face was stone, his body as unmoving as Mina's, his eyes closed.

Finally, Kuwabara pulled Yusuke to his feet, who just strained against him crying. Hiei helped Kuwabara restrain him as Kurama pulled a rose from his hair. With a quick move, he planted the flower firmly in the rock behind Mina's head where it immediately blossomed into a bush brimming with flowers.

Together, the four headed back down the mountain toward the border with Human world.

_Sorry it took me so long to update! Hope it doesn't disappoint, let me know if you think a sequel would be interesting, oh and this isn't done yet! One chappie left._


	10. I Desire None

_Hey, this is the last chapter, so please review! This actually is going to be the first story I've ever finished so celebrate! throws confetti Enjoy and let me know about a possible sequel! _

Keiko tried to keep herself from bursting into tears for the hundredth and fourth time today. It wasn't even ten in the morning yet. It had been two days since Yusuke had returned from Demon World in tears and told her. Mina…their Mina… was gone…truly gone forever. _No don't cry in the middle of class,_ Keiko told herself to be strong, _your teacher already hates you, don't make a worse impression._

"Ms. Keiko!" the professor barked from the front of the class, "Will you please pay attention! This lesson will be on the final."

"Yes ma'am," Keiko rose and bowed respectfully before returning her attention to her textbook.

"Keiko," Kurama whispered from the seat behind her. They had gotten the same class together as a happy accident. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Eventually Kurama," Keiko whispered back, "It just…hurts." A slight pressure on her shoulder told her he understood.

"Now we will turn our attention to English poetry of the twentieth century. If you will turn the page in your textbooks, you will see a poem by Weldon Kees. The title of it is 'For My Daughter.' Mr. Minamino, if you will read please."

Kurama stood, book in hand, and began to read slowly…and then more hesitantly.

Keiko ran out of the room as he finished, ignoring the angry outcries of her teacher, and raced to the roof. She threw herself against the ledge, leaning out over the street, before turning and sinking to her knees against it sobbing. _My daughter…_

That evening, Keiko and Yusuke held a small memorial service in honor of their daughter. Everyone was there to pay their respects; even Botan shed a few tears on behalf of the small girl. Hiei was there but stayed outside in a tree, naturally. He stared at the picture of the child he had actually come to tolerate. He closed his eyes and summoned the memory of the lonely cliff with its single statue. He nodded his head in respect for the dead and dashed off through the treetops.

In their bed later that night, neither Yusuke nor Keiko slept. It was all they could do just to lay silently sobbing in each other's arms for the little girl they had lost, wrapping their arms around each other as if to hold in all the pain.

Far away, in demon world, a small stone figure lay partly obscured by a rose bush. It was a perfect little statuette of a tiny girl, frozen in time. Little sparrows hopped around it, pecking at invisible pieces of food. Suddenly, there was a slight crumbling noise. The birds hopped away from the stone girl afraid, but, seeing nothing, they returned to peck around her. There it was again! The sparrows took off in fright. On her face, the nose of the little girl was crumbling. Soon, stone began off her body in sheets, as if she was coming up from under the surface of water. The child raised an arm out of the dirt and pushed herself up, brushing stone off her like sand. She stood and looked around taking in a deep breath. She closed her eyes and listened, then smiled. "Hello Yomi, Shura."

The two figured approached her, Yomi smiled widely at the little girl. Mina smiled back and raced forward to wrap her little arms around his waist. He chuckled and placed his hand on her head in a fatherly gesture.

Mina looked up at his face, her bright eyes glistening. "Did I do that right Yomi?" she asked in an eager voice.

"Perfectly my dear," Yomi said patting her head, "Now let's get going. We have a lot of work to do before you're ready."

"Ready for what?" Mina asked, holding his hand as they walked away from the rose bush.

"For when you are ready to defeat, once and for all, Yusuke Urameshi," Yomi said with a smile, "And of course the rest of the world."

Mina giggled happily and skipped off happily down the mountainside with Yomi and Shura. The sparrows returned to peck at the remnants of her now empty stone tomb.

Back in the human realm, Kurama sighed as he looked back at the words on the page of the textbook later that night. He bent his head forward to hide his eyes as a single tear slid down his face.

"For My Daughter" by Weldon Kees

Looking into my daughter's eyes I read

Beneath the innocence of morning flesh

Concealed, hintings of death she does not heed.

Coldest of winds have blown this hair, and mesh

Of seaweed snarled these miniatures of hands;

The night's slow poison, tolerant and bland,

Has moved her blood. Parched years that I have seen

That may be hers appear: foul, lingering

Death in certain war, the slim legs green.

Or, fed on hate, she relishes the sting

Of others' agony; perhaps the cruel

Bride of a syphilitic or a fool.

These speculations sour in the sun.

I have no daughter. I desire none.

_R&R_


End file.
